A multi-family housing complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, where residents had evacuated due to a bulging outer wall, has ultimately collapsed.
According to Suwon city and the Gyeonggi Province Fire and Disaster Headquarters, a report was received around 5:57 a.m. on the 26th that the outer wall of the multi-family housing complex in Songjuk-dong, Jangan-gu, Suwon city had collapsed. No casualties were reported as a result.
What collapsed were the bricks used for the external finishing of the building, while the concrete structure that makes up the building's framework did not collapse. The fallen bricks spilled into a safety net installed by the Suwon city government on the 22nd in preparation for a potential collapse.
The fire authorities that received the report dispatched five pieces of equipment and 15 firefighters to carry out safety measures. Suwon city stated that following an emergency safety inspection after the collapse of the outer wall, no structural problems were found with the building.
This building, completed in 1990, 35 years ago, is a four-story structure that includes a semi-basement and currently houses eight households and 10 residents. They all evacuated the building on the same day the bulging outer wall phenomenon was observed on the 20th.
Suwon city also urged residents of neighboring multi-family homes that were adjacent to the bulging outer wall to evacuate, leading to a total of 12 households and 17 individuals relocating to youth hostels or friends' homes provided by Suwon city.
Afterward, on the 21st, a detailed safety inspection conducted by Suwon city, the Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corporation, and safety inspection companies found no special abnormalities in the building itself.
Nevertheless, it is reported by Suwon city that the occurrence of the bulging outer wall phenomenon was due to the weakening of the strength of the metal brackets that connect the inner and outer wall bricks over time, causing a reduced ability to support the bricks.