Professional baseball will pause for a day to mourn the tragic death of a fan at the stadium.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) issued an urgent statement on March 31 to mourn the victims after a fatal incident involving a structural collapse at Changwon NC Park. Additionally, all professional baseball first-team and Futures League games scheduled at five stadiums on April 1 were canceled. The SSG-NC three-game series was also fully canceled for safety assessments at Changwon NC Park.
The incident occurred at 5:20 p.m. just before a game between the LG Twins and NC Dinos on the 29th. A structure installed at the third-base wall suddenly fell, injuring three fans who were transported to a hospital. One of the injured fans, who suffered a head injury, underwent emergency surgery at a local hospital but unfortunately passed away. It was the first death in the 44-year history of professional baseball.
Through the statement of condolence, KBO said, "We mourn the victims of the Changwon NC Park incident. Tragically, a fan who loved baseball passed away due to the accident that occurred on March 29 at Changwon NC Park. KBO deeply expresses condolences to the victims and their families. We sincerely wish for the rapid recovery of the two injured individuals still suffering from their injuries."
KBO has designated the period from April 1 to 3 as a mourning period. In particular, all KBO League and Futures League games on April 1 (Tuesday) were completely canceled to commemorate the victims. This was a measure that contained an apology from the entire baseball community for the first devastating incident since the inception of professional baseball. The Changwon (SSG-NC) games, which were scheduled to be held without fans, have been postponed altogether.
Each team plans to conduct about two hours of training instead of games on the 1st. The games in Jamsil, Suwon, Daejeon, and Gwangju will resume on April 2. A moment of silence for the victims will be observed before the games. The games will proceed without cheering. All players participating in the games will wear mourning ribbons to commemorate the victims.
Due to the unfortunate incident, concerns have been raised about safety at what has become the most crowded stadium, drawing 10 million spectators for the first time last year. KBO stated, "We will thoroughly check the safety of facilities and structures inside and outside the grounds of all stadiums prior to the games. We plan to continuously seek ways to strengthen and fine-tune the regular assessments conducted by the teams and local governments."
Finally, KBO said, "We sincerely wish for the peace of the deceased victim from this accident. We will strive to be an organization that can share the pain of the bereaved families, injured individuals, and all baseball fans and officials who have suffered deep emotional wounds."
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