Roof Collapse at South Korean Resort Leaves 10 People Dead

The snow-laden gymnasium roof at a South Korean resort collapsed, killing 10 people and injuring more than 100 at a welcoming party for college freshmen.

The dead included nine students from Busan University of Foreign Studies, school official Ryoo Chang Won said by phone, while 103 people were injured, South Korea’s National Emergency Management Agency said on its website. One worker for an event organizing company also died, according to Jung Yoon Han, an official at the Ministry of Security and Public Administration.

The accident late yesterday at Kolon Corp. (002020)’s Mauna Ocean Resort in the southeastern city of Gyeongju adds to a history of deadly building collapses during South Korea’s rise to become Asia’s fourth-largest economy, many blamed on a lack of safety oversight. More than 500 people were killed when a shopping mall collapsed in Seoul in 1995, the deadliest case, according to the National Emergency Management Agency.