2 Koreans Killed, 13 Injured Including 9 Athletes In Nightclub Collapse In Gwangju

Two South Koreans were killed and at least 13 others were injured after an internal balcony inside the nightclub Coyote Ugly in Gwangju collapsed at 2:39 am on July 27. One of the dead is a 38 year old male.

The 18th FINA World Championships is currently being held in Gwangju, and is set to finish on July 28. Among the injured athletes at the club include 2 from New Zealand, 4 from the United States, and 1 each from the Netherlands, Italy, and Brazil. One United States water polo athlete suffered a broken leg, and one female Dutch water polo athlete suffered a hand injury.

Matt Small, captain of New Zealand’s water polo team, gave an interview on his experience at the club.

We were just dancing and then the next minute we dropped five to six meters and everyone started rushing out of the club after that.

We, I guess, fell on top of the heads of other people that were beneath us.

— Matt Small

Yonhap News reported that there were a total of around 370 people inside the bar at the time of the collapse. Around 200 meters of the internal balcony was illegally expanded, and the section that did collapse was a part of the illegally expanded structure.

In a video filmed from the club, screams can be heard as people in the club attempt to hold up what is left of the internal balcony.

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