The plastic roof of a traditional market in the northeastern coastal city of Samcheok, Gangwon, collapsed yesterday afternoon because heavy snowfall - 174 centimeters (70 inches) - fell continuously on the city for four days. Seven people were injured in the accident.

An initial media report of one death turned out to be incorrect, according to a city official at the site.

Of those injured, one had a leg fracture and the rest sustained minor injuries, said an official. Two of the victims were treated at the scene and four were treated at the hospital and released. All seven victims are women who had gone out grocery shopping for the first time since the end of the four-day snow barrage on Monday.

Seventy military personnel from a nearby camp, along with police officers and rescuers, were deployed to the scene.

The plastic roof, 7 meters wide and 40 meters long, failed to withstand the weight of snow and collapsed at about 2:30 p.m. Samcheok evacuated about 200 vendors and closed the market.

The east coast of Korea has seen its most snow in a century, isolating hundreds in remote villages, devastating farms and temporarily closing schools.


By Yim Seung-hye [enational@joongang.co.kr]