After tragic crush, lost shoes await owners at Seoul gym
This is the final post for my three-part series on the recent fatal crush which occurred in the South Korean capital, Seoul, while two members of the same gym were working out.
In this series, I examine the details of the events, the reactions both within the victims’ and the gym’s community, and the broader lessons for gym owners and gym culture around how to better handle such events.
A tragedy
On 11 March, 22-year-old Jung-soo Park and 24-year-old Nam-chun Park, both gym users, were working out at Jindong gym on Hyehwa-dong in Seoul when the pair were caught in an avalanche of a group of 15 teenage girls while attempting to climb a rope. Jung-soo and Nam-chun were caught in the avalanche during the gym’s “Dance-off” routine in which they performed choreographed foot work moves on a dance floor during work out sessions.
The pair was wearing shoes with Velcro straps on the toes on both feet. During the dance-off routine, Jung-soo and Nam-chun were trying to get past the girls who were watching as the routine was taking place. When they passed a teenage girl, they were caught in an avalanche of 15 teenage girls, and the two began to slip and slide down the rope, with Nam-chun struggling to get up.
Jung-soo and Nam-chun were unable to get up and began sliding down the rope. Their fall caused the girls to lose their rhythm, with some of the girls even getting dizzy. Jung-soo was attempting to rise up, but slipped and she hit her head on the ground. At this point, Nam-chun tried to rescue Jung-soo by performing a sit-up technique on the ground. Nam-chun was wearing one of the shoes that had the Velcro strap on the toes, but was unable to turn off the shoe due to the Velcro straps. As the two slid down the rope to the floor, Nam-chun’s back was hit by
