SEOUL-
At least 10 people were killed on Monday night when a resort building collapsed in South Korea.
The victims included nine college students while a dozen others were injured.
“Ten people were confirmed dead, two were seriously injured and 16 others were slightly wounded,” a foreign news agency quoted Lee Jae-yeul, director general of the general adjustment team at South Korea’s National Emergency Management Agency.
Lee said search and rescue operations were completed as of 2 pm on Tuesday, around 17 hours after a gymnasium at the Mauna Ocean Resort in Gyeongju, some 370 km southeast of Seoul, caved in at about 9.06 on pm Monday.
When the gymnasium roof collapsed, more than 560 students of the Busan University of Foreign Studies (BUFS) were participating in an event.
Among the 10 people confirmed dead, nine were students from the BUFS and one was an agent for the event organising company.
Two students and 11 event organisers, who had been out of contact and was believed to be trapped under the roof, were all accounted for.
The gymnasium roof caved in as the building was unable to withstand the weight of snow, according to police and fire authorities.
The exact cause of the accident is being investigated by prosecutors and police.