S Korea building collapse: At least eight dead

South Korean rescue workers at the scene of the collapsed building in Gyeongju

At least eight people have died and 17 more have been seriously injured in a building collapse in South Korea, say officials.

More than 10 people are still feared trapped at the resort in the south-eastern city of Gyeongju.
Fifty-eight people received minor injuries, said an official at the state-run National Emergency
Management Agency, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He confirmed the eight deaths.

Part of the auditorium of the resort collapsed during an orientation event for first-year university students from the southern city of Busan.
Fire services have blamed heavy snow on the roof. The weather is also thought to have slowed rescue efforts.

There are conflicting reports on how many students were in the hall when its roof collapsed

 

Heavy snow on the roof has been blamed for its collapse, and for slowing the emergency services' response

 

The students were part of a large group from Busan, attending a first-year orientation event

 

The students were attending a concert in the hall when the roof fell in

 

Local media reports say the collapse happened at around 21:15 local time (12:15 GMT), though there is confusion over the number of students in the hall at the time, and the number still trapped.
"So far we have four confirmed dead and 73 injured, 15 of them seriously," a spokesman for the local fire service told AFP.

Rescue workers with heavy equipment are at the scene, but heavy snow around the resort is thought to have slowed access.

About 1,000 students from Busan University of Foreign Studies were at the Mauna Ocean Resort, said an official. Many managed to get out of the damaged building by themselves, he said.

The students are thought to have been attending a concert in the auditorium when the roof fell in.
"The ceiling came crashing down at the front near the stage," one student told South Korea's YTN news channel. "Then pandemonium broke out and everyone started rushing towards the exits, shouting and screaming," he added.

Gyeongju is a historic city that served as the capital of one of the Korean peninsula's ancient kingdoms, and is a popular tourist destination.

The area has experienced exceptionally heavy snowfall over the past week.
One of the world's worst peacetime building collapses happened in South Korea in June 1995, when Seoul's Sampoong Department Store collapsed, killing hundreds.