Current Law Limits Step Width to 10cm... Accident Staircase is 27cm
Building Review Applied Before Standard Passed... Not Enforced
A tragic accident occurred in Daegu Suseong-gu where a 2-year-old girl fell to her death from an emergency staircase at a hotel wedding hall, and it has been reported that the structure of the staircase did not meet safety standards.
According to multiple media reports including 'Yonhap News,' on the 16th at around 1:49 PM, A (2) fell through the gap in the railing of the emergency staircase between the 3rd and 4th floors of a hotel wedding hall in Suseong-gu. A fell all the way down to the basement level 1. When found, she was in cardiac arrest and was transported to a nearby hospital by the 119 rescue team but was ultimately pronounced dead.
The width of the emergency stair railing at a hotel in Suseong-gu, Daegu, where the accident occurred. It is about 2.7 times the current architectural design regulation width of 10 cm. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Police investigation revealed that A's father was standing holding luggage in one hand and had briefly let go of the child's hand to open the metal door of the staircase. It is presumed that during that moment, the child walked near the railing and fell. The police have begun an investigation, summoning related parties to obtain statements to clarify the exact circumstances of the incident.
It was also reported that the structure of the emergency staircase where the accident occurred did not comply with safety standards. The width of the railing on the emergency staircase between the 3rd and 4th floors of this hotel was confirmed to exceed 27 cm.
Current building design regulations stipulate that the width of indoor stair railings must be 10 cm or less.
Specifically, Article 6 of the Enforcement Rules of the Building Act, "Standards for the Structure and Construction Methods of Interior Architecture," states, "To prevent fall accidents indoors, railings installed on public stairs and public corridors must be designed so that infants and young children cannot climb on them, and if there is a gap between railings, the gap must be 10 cm or less."
However, this standard was announced on October 28, 2015, and since the hotel applied for review on February 10, 2014, about a year earlier, it was not subject to this standard.
Meanwhile, Suseong-gu plans to recommend installing indoor safety nets and adjusting railing gaps to prevent recurrence of such accidents.
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