Commercial Building Ceiling Collapses, Injuring 38; Joint Inspection to Be Held Today

[Anchor]

Yesterday morning on the 10th, the ceiling finishing materials of a commercial building in Daegu collapsed on the second floor, injuring more than 30 people. A sales event targeting elderly individuals was taking place at the scene.

Reporter Kim Nak-sung from TBC has the details.

[Reporter]

Steel frames and gypsum boards are scattered all over the floor as if struck by a bomb, with the ceiling exposing its concrete skeleton.

At around 10:16 AM, the ceiling finishing materials collapsed on the second floor of a four-story commercial building in Gwaneum-dong, Buk-gu, Daegu.

The site of the accident was an empty space formerly used as a billiard room. Since October 3, a distribution company had rented the second-floor space and was using it as a venue for selling household goods such as electric blankets targeting the elderly.

An event was underway at the time of the accident. The collapse began when steel clips started coming loose from the part of the ceiling farthest from the second-floor entrance, causing sections to fall down sequentially.

[Kim Tae-su / Gwaneum-dong, Daegu: One of the injured people came down saying, 'I'm okay,' but suddenly blood started pouring down. Apparently, their head had been struck.]

Immediately after the accident, 66 people at the scene evacuated urgently, but 38 were injured after being hit on the head and other body parts by falling objects. Among them, nine were transported to the hospital.

The building is a four-story structure constructed in 1994, and a mart operating on the first floor had also reportedly suspended its business.

[Hwang Chil-seok / Head of Incident Command, Daegu Gangbuk Fire Station: Fortunately, there were desks and chairs under the ceiling tiles, so thanks to that empty space, there were no severe injuries among the casualties.]

Following the accident, President Lee Jae-myung instructed authorities to make every effort to manage the aftermath, and Daegu Mayor Choo Kyung-ho also visited the site to inspect the situation.

The Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency formed a dedicated investigation team consisting of 33 members, led by the head of the metropolitan investigation unit, including the serious accident investigation unit and the forensic investigation unit.

The National Forensic Service, along with related organizations, plans to conduct a joint inspection to investigate whether building aging or shoddy construction was involved, and the Buk-gu Office also plans to carry out safety inspections on the entire building.

(Video reporting: Ko Dae-seung from TBC, Video editing: Lee So-young, Design: Choi Jae-young)

Kim Nak-sung, TBC
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.