SKorean roof collapse kills 10 at college meeting

GYEONGJU, Feb. 18 South Korea (NsNewsWire) — Emergency staff worked through the night in snow and sleet to pull survivors from the debris of an auditorium whose roof collapsed under the weight of snow, killing 10 people and injuring 100, most of them recently enrolled freshmen of a South Korean university, officials said Tuesday.

The students had gathered at the auditorium of a holiday resort for a welcoming ceremony Monday night when the roof came crashing down, leaving twisted metal and debris of concrete and wood, reports AP.

Weather officials say the southeastern region saw the heaviest snowfall this month since measurements began three years ago.

Bad weather hampered rescuers who had to reach the site outside the historic tourist city of Gyeongju on icy roads. Working all night, they extricated survivors, many of them injured, and rushed them on stretchers to waiting ambulances.

Family members and friends of the dead gathered in a hospital morgue in the nearby city of Ulsan.

Kim Pan-su fought back tears as he talked about his daughter, Kim Jin-sol, who was one of the dead. He said he had called his daughter’s friends when he couldn’t reach her.