Yesterday, sixteen attendants of the Pangyo Techno Valley Festival took fatal falls after a ventilation grate collapsed under their weight, according to officials. The festival, an outdoor pop music series, took place in Seongnam, South Korea. Photos have revealed that under the grate lies a deep shaft composed of concrete, and in addition to the sixteen concert-goers who lost their lives, eleven others have been confirmed as having been seriously injured in the incident.
Not too many details are fully known, as the nameless Seongnam official who initially announced the news during a televised briefing did not take any questions from reporters. But according to fire officials from the area, who spoke out anonymously due to office regulations, the 3 to 4 meter grate reportedly gave out under the victim’s feet during popular girl group 4Minute‘s performance at the music festival. The victims were not readily identified due to the crowd of around 700 people being made up of female students, for the most part.
A video of the incident taken by a concert-goer was recently released on South Korean television network YTN. In it, footage is shown of the girl group continuing their performance, as well as the majority of fans in the audience continuing to dance and enjoy themselves. In the same video, others are later seen peering down into the depths of the hole where fans had just stood. Apparently, most remained unaware of the fall that took place until after the show ended.
4Minute recently released a statement expressing their sorrow over the incident, stating, “We can’t express how regretful they are for what happened. The performance wasn’t solely a 4Minute show, but a stage shared by many artists for an event. During their performance, none of the members or staff were aware of the accident and finished their complete set.”
The statement continues, “It wasn’t until they arrived back in Seoul that they heard of the news regarding the accident. We hope the audience wasn’t hurt in this accident.” The words of condolence were translated to English and released through their record label, Cube Entertainment. The South Korean hip-hop trio known as Epik High have decided to delay the release of their latest music video, “Born Hater,” in order to pay their respects to the victims of the tragedy as well.