Peter Spering
The Sampoong Shopping Centre Collapse.
During South Korea’s economic boom in the 1980s, Sampoong was erected in Seoul. Originally planned to be an apartment complex, a new boss by the name of Lee Joon decided midway that he wanted it to become a shopping centre instead. This required changes to the plans, most notably the removal of several support columns so that escalators could be installed.

三丰购物中心倒塌。
在上世纪80年代韩国的经济繁荣时期，三丰在首尔建立起来。最初的计划是一个公寓大楼，一位名叫李俊(Lee Joon)的新老板中途决定把它变成一个购物中心。这就需要对平面图进行修改，最明显的是拆除了几根支撑柱，以便安装自动扶梯。

Due to serious constructional concerns, the construction company refused to carry out these changes, leading Lee to fire them and bringing in his own builders.
His further demands meant there were other issues with the completed building too; there was no steel skeleton or crossbeams, which meant that load couldn’t be transferred across floors. He also ordered the floor columns to be reduced to below the safe thickness, to maximise floor space, and had them spread further out—increasing the load on each—for the same reason. Three air conditioning units weighing fifteen tonnes each were installed on the roof, exceeding the load capacity by four times.

由于严重的结构问题，建筑公司拒绝进行这些改变，导致李解雇了他们，并引入了自己的建筑商。
他的进一步要求意味着竣工建筑也存在其他问题；没有钢骨架或横梁，这意味着荷载不能跨楼层传递。他还下令将地板柱减至安全厚度以下，以最大化地板空间，并将其进一步展开，以增加每个柱的荷载。为了相同的原因，屋顶上安装了三台空调机组，每台重15吨，超过了负荷能力的四倍。

Cracks in the building started to appear just a few short years after opening, after the air conditioning units were dragged across the roof, causing cracks. By April 1995, more cracks were beginning to appear on the fifth floor too. Lee and the management’s only response was to move merchandise from the top floor to the basement.

在商场开放几年后，这座建筑开始出现裂缝，原因是空调机组被拖过屋顶，导致出现裂缝。到了1995年4月，五楼也开始出现更多裂缝。李和管理层的唯一应对措施是将商品从顶楼搬到地下室。
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Just a couple of months later, the cracks multiplied dramatically.
The management’s response was to close the top floors. They invited civil engineers to inspect the building, who quickly came to the conclusion that the building was at risk of collapse. The directors suggested to Lee Joon that the building be evacuated, but Lee angrily rejected the idea, saying he didn’t want to lose revenue. It was very much “one rule for them” though, as Lee was more than happy to evacuate himself alongside the other executives. Do you know who was working in the building at the time? His daughter-in-law.
He didn’t even tell her.

仅仅几个月后，裂缝急剧增加。
管理层的回应是关闭顶层。他们邀请土木工程师来检查大楼，工程师很快得出结论，大楼有倒塌的危险。董事们向李俊建议疏散大楼，但李俊愤怒地拒绝了这个想法，说他不想失去收入。不过，这只“适用于他们”，因为李非常乐意和其他高管一起撤离。你知道当时谁在大楼里工作吗?他的儿媳妇。
他甚至没有告诉她。

At 5PM on the 29th June 1995, the fifth floor ceiling began to sink. Still, Lee did not close the store or order any emergency repairs. Nearly an hour later, audible cracking sounds filled the building, prompting staff to sound the alarms and evacuate the customers. However, it was too late. The roof collapsed and the air conditioning behemoths dropped through it, smashing through each and every floor. The main columns buckled and within less than twenty seconds, the south wing of the building came crashing down, killing over 500 people and injuring over 900 more.

1995年6月29日下午5点，五楼的天花板开始下沉。尽管如此，李并没有关闭商店或下令进行任何紧急维修。将近一个小时后，大楼内响起爆裂声，促使工作人员拉响警报并疏散顾客。然而，为时已晚。屋顶坍塌，空调巨兽从中坠落，砸碎了每一层楼。主要承重柱在不到二十秒内弯曲，建筑物的南翼轰然倒塌，造成 500 多人死亡，900 多人受伤。


It took a days long rescue effort to free the trapped survivors, some of whom surviving the contemporaneous hot weather by drinking rainwater. By contrast, some of the trapped victims survived the collapse but drowned to death because of the water used to suppress the fire.
The collapse was investigated by one Professor Chung, a civil engineering professor. During his interrogation of Lee, the latter disregarded the victims and stated his primary concern was the financial damage suffered by his company. He was ultimately arrested, convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison. He only served seven but died shortly after release anyway.

救援人员花了整整一天时间才救出被困的幸存者，其中一些人靠喝雨水熬过了当时炎热的天气。相比之下，一些被困的受害者在倒塌中幸存下来，但却因为被用来灭火的水淹死了。
土木工程教授钟教授对此次倒塌进行了调查。在对李俊进行审问的过程中，李俊没有考虑受害者的情况，只说自己最关心的是公司遭受的经济损失。他最终被逮捕，并被定罪，判处10年监禁。他只服了七年刑，但获释后不久就死了。

Lee Joon turned ruthlessness into an art form. He was utterly selfish and devoid of humanity; it’s an incredibly rare time when I say this of anyone, but I’m glad that waste of air is dead.

李俊把无情变成了一种艺术形式。他完全自私，没有人性；我很少这样说任何人，但我很高兴那个浪费空气的家伙死了。