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When: At 17:55 hours on June 29, 1995 |
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Damage to life: deaths - 501 / wounded - 937 / missing - 6 |
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Details of the accident: |
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One of the two buildings of Sampoong Department Store, located at 1675-3, Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul (the slab on the fifth floor of the northern building, which had five stories on the ground and four stories underground) collapsed all the way to the basement. It was a big disaster that resulted in 501 deaths, 937 injured, and 6 missing.
Lessons and Countermeasures
Sampoong Department Store’s collapse resulted from the building’s incorrect construction.
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As the effective section of the pillars and the steel reinforcement had been reduced, stress was highly likely to be generated. After the completion of the building’s construction, however, its structure was changed without permission and review. Accordingly, the load exceeded the allowable limit, and the cracks (an instability factor) grew.
Unreasonable construction practices, such as the absence of a construction permission system and of a supervision system, also indirectly contributed to the building’s collapse.
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| The factors that contributed to the loss of many lives were the fact that no honest analysis of the situation was conducted after a harmful factor was discovered, the failure of the managing body to adjudge the situation and to decide fast, the fact that the relevant person did not understand the situation, and the late implementation of the crisis management system. |
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Home > Disaster Reports > Structure Collapse > Sampoong Department Store
Information : Administrative Management Division / Hyun-jin Choi / 02-2100-5128