9 Dead in 'Gwangju Collapse Accident'... Construction Cost Cuts and Negligence Deemed Human Error

Excessive Criticism, Negligence, and Other Causes of the Disaster
Construction Costs Cut by 16%... Inadequate Safety Management

On June 9th, the redevelopment demolition site in Dong-gu, Gwangju (Photo provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

The 'building collapse accident' that occurred last June at a redevelopment construction site in Dong-gu, Gwangju, was confirmed to be a man-made disaster caused by illegal subcontracting leading to construction cost cuts, excessive embankment, and negligence by construction personnel.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's 'Central Building Accident Investigation Committee for the Gwangju Demolition Collapse Accident' announced the final investigation results of the Gwangju demolition collapse accident on June 9.

The accident happened when a five-story building being dismantled at the construction site collapsed toward the roadside, resulting in the deaths of nine civilians and injuries to eight others. Immediately after the accident, the government formed an investigation committee composed of 10 experts in fields such as architectural structure, construction, and law to investigate the cause of the accident.

According to the committee, the accident occurred when half of the interior floor of the building was demolished and excessive embankment at the height of the third floor was carried out during work, causing the first-floor slab to fail under the weight.

As embankment rapidly flowed into the basement, the soil from the upper floors moved toward the front of the building, and the resulting impact was the direct cause of the structural overturn collapse.

It was confirmed that while water spraying work continued, the backfilling of soil in the basement was insufficient. Additionally, poor preparation and approval of the demolition plan, inadequate safety management and supervision at the construction site, and low-cost construction due to illegal subcontracting also acted as indirect causes.

The committee pointed out that construction personnel such as designers and permit authorities were careless in preparing, reviewing, and approving the demolition plan, and that supervisors and the primary contractor also had issues with negligence. The committee concluded that the 16% reduction in construction costs due to illegal subcontracting was a major cause of insufficient safety management during construction.

The investigation committee proposed recurrence prevention measures including ▲raising the quality of demolition plans ▲strengthening the responsibilities of designers, constructors, supervisors, and permit authorities ▲eradicating illegal subcontracting and reinforcing penalty regulations.

Lee Young-wook, chairman of the investigation committee, said, "We plan to organize the analyzed investigation results and supplement detailed matters to submit the final report to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in about three weeks."

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is scheduled to announce safety reinforcement measures for demolition work on the 10th based on the investigation results and discussions from the recurrence prevention task force (TF).

(Data provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.