<Anchor> The
collapse of the Gwangju demolished building occurred immediately after the demolition began in earnest, raising suspicions that it violated safety regulations. The police launched a joint investigation with the National Forensic Service.
By Jung Joon-ho.
<Reporter> The
collapse occurred in Gwangju Hak-dong Redevelopment Area 4, which is currently undergoing demolition work.
The collapsed building was prepared for demolition the day before, and demolition work began in earnest from yesterday (9th).
It was a method of dismantling the building using an excavator from the 5th floor, the top floor.
However, the building collapsed within one working day, raising suspicions of safety regulations.
[Lee Han-hee/Nearby residents: I have lived here for thirty years, but my heart hurts so much and I feel absurd… .] The
steel frame supports and screens installed as safety devices in case of an unexpected accident were also insufficient to prevent the building debris from collapsing.
Workers said there were signs of collapse, including strange noises during demolition work.
[Construction officials: There were about 4 (workers) with equipment. Two people inside and two people signaling outside, there are signs of an abnormality in the building, so everyone has fled.] The
construction company revealed that the contract was in which no supervisor was resident in the first place due to the controversy over the absence of an on-site supervisor.
[Kwon Soon-ho / Hyundai Development Company CEO: The contract is a non-resident supervision. (At the time of the accident), it was determined that he was not present.] He
also denied the allegation of subcontracting the demolition work and explained that he understood that the demolition construction method was carried out according to the reported procedure.
The police started a detailed investigation together with the National Forensic Service to investigate the exact cause of the accident.
In addition, a dedicated investigation team will be established to intensively investigate whether safety regulations, etc., have been properly observed during the construction process.