Talk:Sampoong Department Store collapse

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I'm a little confused on a couple of facts regarding the collapse:

1. There are articles mentioning the incident occurring in either the Kangnam-gu/Gangnam-gu (강남구; 江南區) or Seocho-gu (서초구; 瑞草區) district of Seoul. Both districts happen to be side-by side, which makes it difficult for those unfamiliar to the city to know exactly where the collapse happened.

Its in Seocho-Gu. You're right, they're really close together, but the site is in Seocho-Gu. For those of you who wanted to know what happened to that site, it is currently a brand-new apartment complex and it is very modern with glossy windows and metallic sides. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Dsdukcy (talk • contribs) 13:29, 11 March 2007 (UTC).

2. The death toll ranges from 501 to 502. Is there an exact figure? ++ 25 29 June 2005 01:42 (UTC) ++

  • I'm pretty sure it is. this place says 501: link -- WB June 29, 2005 07:21 (UTC)
  • 501 people died, 937 were injured and 6 person was missing in the collapse. It happened in this place: Seocho-Dong Seocho-Gu Seoul. you can find this information here[1], but it is in Korean.--Kay someone 15:01, 11 August 2005 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] I'm confused

On the show that it was shown on (The Discovery Channel) it said that there was a new floor suppose to be adding which would make a indoor skating rink, but since the consctructors did not agree to it they fired them. Which do I believe? Wikipedia or the show?

  • Lost*
It's difficult to verify much of the information in Wikipedia, considering that we have been referring to several online pages for information prior to the show, and some of them provide conflicting info about the details.
What Discovery Channel's Blueprint for Disaster did though, is provide use with a number of new info regarding the collapse, and may be creditable, given that it has real interviewees to explain the situation, but I won't jump the edit wagon too soon, we have to verify them first. ╫ 25 ring-a-ding 17:08, 8 August 2005 (UTC) ╫
I would recommend believing the Discovery Channel. As you know, WWW isn't the best place to rely on although most facts are true. Discovery Channel did some research on Korean newspapers and interviewees, which I would say are much reliable than Wikipedia. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Dsdukcy (talk • contribs) 13:32, 11 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Blueprint for Disaster

Here are a number of new information I've managed to pick up from Discovery Channel's Blueprint for Disaster on the collapse:

  1. The fifth floor was indeed intended to be a skating ring. However, it was the executives that changed the plans, while Lee Joon fired the initial contractors for refused to follow orders. The restaurant was believed to be added before the store's opening, and not after. Also, there was no mention of the building previously intended to be an office building.
  2. The concrete mix, and foundation have been ruled out as the cause of the collapse. They had also considered the possibility of a terrorist attack by North Korea, but that had also been rule out.
  3. Columns near escalators were cut to allow for the placement of fire shields, not the escalators alone.
  4. The columns on the upper floors were not thick enough, and were not providing proper top and bottom reinforcement.
  5. The stress placed on the floor supporting the restaurant was created by the installation of heaters beneath the floor, industrial strength kitchen equipment, and the water towers that were moved from the bottom of the building to the roof. There was no mention of any crane moving any air conditioning unit.
  6. The concrete slabs of the upper floors, forced down by the weight, had been punched through by the columns, which eventually resulted to the collapse.
  7. One civil engineering expert was sent to investigate the cracks of the building on June 29, but he was shown to have downplayed the incident, and even suggested that the damages can be repaired.
  8. It appeared that only one wing of the store collapsed; the other wing remained intacted.
  9. ╫ 25 ring-a-ding 17:08, 8 August 2005 (UTC) ╫
I'll back you up on what you wrote, I'm watching the same show right now. What's even more strange is I work in the neighborhood in Seoul where the collapse happened. If that's not strange enough, one of my students told me that he and his mother were outside the store when it collapsed in 1995. Davidpdx 14:39, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
My grandma was in there too, and I'm serious. She has Parkinson's disease and cannot walk properly with someone helping her or with a wheelchair. She was in the 3rd floor or 2nd (she doesn't remember well) but when she heard piercing screams of, "The building is crashing, the building is crashing!", she abandoned her cart, got a fire extinguisher and through it out the window to make a whole in it and jumped out. The impact when she hit the floor gave her the Parkinson's and her near-disability to walk. She's still living, but very awkwardly, too. Imagine how my grandfather would have felt ... Dsdukcy (Living in Seocho-Gu, Bangbae Dong, Seoul, Korea)
That's all well and good, but if you want to write an article, you need better sources than a (albeit good) television show. 134.117.163.60 22:26, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] North Wing of Sampoong Department Store's Fate

As we all know, the south wing of the Sampoong Department Store collapsed, while the north wing remained intact. Does anyone know what happened to the north wing after the disaster?

This article mentions that a residential and commercial high rise was built over the site of the store. Presumably, the rest of the department store may have been demolished not long after the collapse, but clarification from a local may help clear things up. ╫ ２５ ◀RingADing▶ 19:13, 20 May 2006 (UTC) ╫

[edit] Given and Family names

I'm not sure about this, but it seems that Lee Joon's family name is Lee, NOT Joon, and refering to someone by their given name is generally a faux pas. His son is Lee Han-Sang which only seems to agree with my statement. I know that in Japan family names are first and given names are second. If someone can confirm that this is also the case in Korea I suggest that someone change every reference to Mr. Lee's given name. --StarkRG 03:58, 2 June 2006 (UTC)


You're right. Korean names usually come surname-first, unless they're printed in English papers/books, in which case, you get the confusing situation of having the surname come last in some sources, and first in others. Of course, this usually isn't a huge problem, because of the structure of typical Korean names (one-syllable family names and two-syllable given names), but there are some unusual names that can cause a bit of confusion. Anyhow, it's most likely that the family name in question here is 'Lee' rather than 'Joon', especially seeing as his sone seems to have a family name of 'Lee'. --Zonath 05:21, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] See also

Why isn't there any mention of a similar event in Singapore, the collapse of the hotel/bank new world? I saw it on TV. There were fewer casulties, but there isn't an article on it. Should there be one? Also, the name of the store can be spelt differently. Should there be redirects? Thanks. AstroHurricane001(Talk+Contribs+Ubx) 22:41, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

Are you referring to the Hotel New World disaster? ╫ ２５ ◀RingADing▶ 08:39, 27 January 2007 (UTC) ╫
Yeah, I think so, thanks. However, why didn't I find it on the "New World" disambiguation page? Should it be added? AstroHurricane001(Talk+Contribs+Ubx) 22:48, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
I'm not really sure, but you are free to add it as you please. ╫ ２５ ◀RingADing▶ 13:40, 28 January 2007 (UTC) ╫


[edit] Photo

Could any body say me where can I find a photo of sampoong before the collapse please? --85.71.211.66 19:50, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "hoax"?!

Hi. An anon added the prod template earlier today with the reason hoax. Obviously the article is not a hoax. I'm not sure if you're allowed to remove prod templates like this, can someone look into this matter, and cleanup the article if nessecary? Thanks. ~AH1(TCU) 18:36, 11 November 2007 (UTC)