3. Sampoong Department Store collapse

5. In April, 1995, cracks began to appear in the ceiling of the south wing's fifth floor. During this period, the only response carried out by Lee and his management involved moving merchandise and stores from the top floor to the basement. The store management failed to shut the building down or issue formal evacuation orders, as the number of customers in the building was unusually high, and the store was not intending to lose potential revenue for that day. However, the executives themselves had left the premises as a precaution.

6. On the morning of June 29, the number of cracks in the area increased dramatically, prompting managers to close the top floor and shut the air conditioning off. Civil engineering experts were also invited to inspect the structure, with a cursory check revealing that the building was at risk of collapse.

7. Five hours before the collapse, the first of several loud bangs were emitted from the top floors, as the vibrations in the air conditioning caused the cracks in the slabs to widen further. Amid customer reports of the vibrations, the air conditioning was turned off, but the cracks in the floors had already widened to 10cm.

8. At about 5:00 p.m. Korea Standard Time (UTC+9:00), the fourth floor ceiling began to sink, resulting in store workers blocking customer access to the fourth floor.

9. The store was packed with shoppers 52 minutes before the collapse, but the owner did not close the store or carry out repairs at the time. When the building started to produce cracking sounds at about 5:50 p.m., workers began to sound alarm bells and evacuate customers.

10. Around 6:05 p.m., the roof gave way, and the air conditioning unit crashed through into the already-overloaded fifth floor.

11. The main columns, weakened to allow the insertion of the escalators, collapsed in turn, and the building's south wing pancaked into the basement. Within 20 seconds, all of the building's columns gave way, trapping more than 1,500 people and killing 500. The disaster resulted in about ₩ 270 billion (approximately US$ 216 million) worth of property damage .

12. Nicoll Highway Incident

65. http://infopedia.nlb.gov.sg/articles/SIP_430_2004-12-17.html

67. www.scdf.gov.sg/.../press_clippings_apr04.html

71. www.ntuc.org.sg/newsletter/180904.htm