Gas Explosion Rocks S. Korea Mall; 1 Dead

A gas explosion badly damaged a three-story shopping mall Sunday morning in eastern South Korea, killing one person and injuring nine, Yonhap Television News reported.

The 10 a.m. explosion occurred in Chunchon, 56 miles east of Seoul, Yonhap said. The network initially reported that a residential building was destroyed but later said it was a shopping mall.

Leaking gas from a basement restaurant was believed to have caused the explosion when ignited by a stray spark, the report said. A police spokesman said a man who had been renovating the restaurant was killed.

Television footage showed blocks of concrete and bent metal strewn about on the ground near the building. The windows on the third floor were shattered. The blast also damaged several cars parked nearby, the radio said.

Kim Young Lim, a store owner on the second floor, told Yonhap that she heard a loud boom and the building shook beneath her.

South Korea has suffered a series of recent disasters including the collapse of a department store that killed more than 450 people, a subway gas explosion that killed more than 100 and the collapse of a bridge.