At least nine people were killed and eight others injured Wednesday when a five-story building collapsed and fell onto a busy street in Gwangju, located about 270 kilometers southwest of the capital, Seoul.
The building collapsed as it was being demolished, with tons of debris falling on top of a passenger bus that was driving past the demolition site. All the dead and injured were aboard the bus at the time.
Officials with the Gwangju fire department say the reason for the collapse was unclear. South Korea has had challenges in addressing its bad safety record in terms of infrastructure.
A department store collapse killed more than 500 people in 1995, and a bridge collapse in 1994 killed 49 people.
