14 Injured as Wall Collapses in Yeosu Elementary School Auditorium

An accident occurred at an elementary school in Yeosu, Jeollanam-do, where a ceiling structure in the gymnasium collapsed, injuring teachers and students.

According to the Jeollanam-do Office of Education on the 12th, at around 12:25 PM that day, the upper wall structure of the stage in the multipurpose auditorium of Yeosu A Elementary School suddenly collapsed, injuring a total of 14 people, including one teacher and 13 students, who were transported to the hospital.

Multipurpose auditorium of Yeosu A Elementary School with collapsed walls. Photo by Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education

At the time of the incident, the students' injuries were minor abrasions, but the male physical education teacher was hit in the face by the structure and was taken to a university hospital for a brain hemorrhage examination; he was later classified as having minor injuries.

The auditorium is a steel arch-type building with an area of 900㎡, completed in September 2017, and the collapsed structure was made of lightweight sound-absorbing material, which is believed to have limited the extent of the damage.

Immediately after the accident, Kim Dae-jung, the Superintendent of Education of Jeollanam-do, visited the school and hospital to assess the situation and comfort the injured teachers and students.

Superintendent Kim plans to convene an emergency task force in the afternoon to thoroughly discuss the damage situation and countermeasures.

An official from the Office of Education stated, “Currently, the injuries to the teachers and students are not considered serious,” and added, “We are making efforts to determine the cause of the sudden collapse of the multipurpose auditorium’s sound-absorbing material and to assess the detailed extent of the damage.”

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