Sampoong Store Collapse 1995

In 1995, civil engineers warned the Sampoong Department Store in Seoul, South Korea, that the building's structure was failing and needed to be evacuated immediately. The manager, fearing revenue loss on a busy shopping day, refused to close the store. Hours later, the building collapsed with more than 500 people still inside.

Adding to the tragedy, one of the store's directors slipped out to safety without even warning his own daughter-in-law, who remained in the building. Public outrage grew when the manager responsible for ignoring the warnings served only 7.5 years in prison for one of the deadliest peacetime disasters in South Korea's history.

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