Bloodied survivors were pulled from a collapsed shopping mall Friday, carried out on stretchers from the tangle of concrete slabs and twisted steel rods where they had spent a night of terror.
The death toll was 113 and rising. An additional 910 people were injured and 246 others were reported missing. Shoddy construction was blamed for the collapse of a five-story wing of the upscale Sampoong Department Store complex Thursday night.The hope and dread that accompanied the rescue effort were symbolized by a 40-year-old teacher pinned in the wreckage, who dictated his will to a woman who was trapped for fear he would not make it out alive.
But Hong Sung-tae did survive and was pulled out 27 hours after the building caved in.
"He told me that he wasn't likely to make it, and asked me to deliver his will to his family," said Kwon Eun-jong.
"He asked me to find two bankbooks in his school desk and hand them to his wife and son," she said.
Two women rescued 20 hours after the collapse said they sang to encourage each other and pounded on a wall to attract rescuers.