14 Fall 65 Feet to Their Death in Concert Disaster

Victims were watching girls' band 4Minute
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 17, 2014 7:33 AM CDT
Updated Oct 17, 2014 8:05 AM CDT
Concert Disaster: 15 Feared Dead After Falling Through Grate
People gather around a collapsed ventilation grate at an outdoor theater in Seongnam, south of Seoul, South Korea, on Oct. 17, 2014.   (AP Photo/Yonhap)

Fourteen people watching an outdoor pop concert in South Korea fell 65 feet to their deaths today when a ventilation grate they were standing on collapsed, officials say. Fire officials say two more people are unresponsive and feared dead and 11 others are seriously injured. The victims were standing on the grate while watching an outdoor performance by girls' band 4Minute, which is popular across Asia. Photos of the scene in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, show a deep concrete shaft under the broken ventilation grate.

About 700 people had gathered to watch the concert, which was part of a local festival, the Yonhap news agency reports. The YTN television network, citing unidentified witnesses, says many of the spectators were female students. A video from the scene recorded by someone at the concert that later ran on YTN shows the band continuing to dance for a while in front of a crowd that appeared to be unaware of the accident. YTN says the ventilation grate was about 10 to 13 feet wide. The cause of the accident wasn't immediately known. (More South Korea stories.)

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