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glad to hear no one died and there was not that many injured

I had heard that the last episode would be live-action. I am relieved to hear that no-one was critically injured; collapsing grandstands can (and have been) killers.

Perhaps this news is a timely reminder to actually go watch the rest of the series. I've only watched the first three episodes (including episode zero), but it's not like I dropped it or anything. I just . . . stopped watching it for a while. I really want to resume it, but I need to find the time. Or make it . . . . . .

Ouch, that was unexpected. I'm assuming most people just got bumps and scrapes though unless this platform was raised off the ground.

How high was it?

Awww crap.

I read the article again, and it said the platform was two metres wide by eight metres long. The article also implied that one hundred people were using it when it collapsed. That's six people per square metre.

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No wonder it collapsed. What gets me is that they are blaming the wind.

To paraphrase King Kong:

"It wasn't the wind. It was human stupidity that caused the accident".

If people are going to be so reckless as to get on a platform with that many people on it, then they deserve what they get. All the sympathy I felt for those involved just vanished.

Things like that shouldn't happen. It was meant to be a fun time and a very special event since the final show is going to be Live Action with the old cast of the real show. Now it ends on this note and tone. I sure hope all the good people recover totally and quickly.

The drama series is one that keeps you watching till the end and hearing Korean provides yet another language to adapt to hearing.

2x8 meters? Are you kidding me? Who in their right mind would try to fit 100 people on a platform that should only be able to fit 30 people max?

Someone has a lot of explaining to do (that doesn't involve blaming the wind, pfft).

dtm42 wrote:

No wonder it collapsed. What gets me is that they are blaming the wind.

6 people per square meter also translates as a human wall. With winds at 20 meters per second, I'd say the collapse was inevitable since most temporary stands are rarely anchored. The runners don't seem to be the cause of the problem.

Quote:

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Which is what I think when an article converts metrics to standard. Not that I can blame the author for assisting, it just bugs me to hell the United States refuses to adapt to the easiest measurement system known to man. Though, it's still a chuckle to see people trying to add the measurements "5 3/4 inch" to "7 5/8 feet" without the use of a calculator.

Quote:

To paraphrase King Kong:
"It wasn't the wind. It was human stupidity that caused the accident".

I don't recall King Kong speaking. Ever.

Quote:

If people are going to be so reckless as to get on a platform with that many people on it, then they deserve what they get.

I agree. It's their fault for putting trust in those who erected the platform who should have known better and not taking the time to whip out their engineering skills to ensure the platform was, indeed, safe.

dtm42, you never cease to garner a chuckle from me.

Last edited by dtm42 on Sat Mar 13, 2010 3:08 pm; edited 3 times in total

PetrifiedJello wrote:

6 people per square meter also translates as a human wall. With winds at 20 meters per second, I'd say the collapse was inevitable since most temporary stands are rarely anchored. The runners don't seem to be the cause of the problem.

Hmm, when I heard the word "collapse" I just assumed it collapsed down, not over. But with the wind being as it was, I can sort of see what you are saying.

PetrifiedJello wrote:

Quote:

FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC-

Which is what I think when an article converts metrics to standard. Not that I can blame the author for assisting, it just bugs me to hell the United States refuses to adapt to the easiest measurement system known to man. Though, it's still a chuckle to see people trying to add the measurements "5 3/4 inch" to "7 5/8 feet" without the use of a calculator.

Yes, it is ridiculous that most Americans still use such antiquated and inferior measurement units.

PetrifiedJello wrote:

Quote:

To paraphrase King Kong:
"It wasn't the wind. It was human stupidity that caused the accident".

I don't recall King Kong speaking. Ever.

Well, that's a relief, because I don't either. But I do remember Robert Armstrong saying the rather well-known lines of:

"Oh no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast".

I didn't italicise the name of the movie just for giggles you know.

PetrifiedJello wrote:

I agree. It's their fault for putting trust in those who erected the platform who should have known better and not taking the time to whip out their engineering skills to ensure the platform was, indeed, safe.

dtm42, you never cease to garner a chuckle from me.

What I'm saying is, people should use their actual common sense. Even if there wasn't any wind, a platform with that kind of density of people on it should be avoided, if for no other reason than no-one will be able to see anything except those in the first row. Then the weight becomes an issue. If the thought never crossed their heads that maybe that many people on something was dangerous, then that's where ignorance crosses over into stupidity. Now let's add in the wind, which at 20m/s would have been classified as a Gale under the Beaufort Scale, i.e. "Progress on foot is seriously impeded".

Really and truly, I have no sympathy for them whatsoever. It doesn't matter that they lacked engineering expertise, they could have (and should have) realised that it wasn't safe.

Nevertheless, I'm glad I provide some amusement 'round here.

PetrifiedJello wrote:

I don't recall King Kong speaking. Ever.

I hope that was a poor attempt at sarcasm and not a genuine response.

PetrifiedJello wrote:

I agree. It's their fault for putting trust in those who erected the platform who should have known better and not taking the time to whip out their engineering skills to ensure the platform was, indeed, safe.

Because clearly you need to be an engineer to know that putting 100 people on a tiny bridge in gale force winds isn't safe. o_O

dtm42 wrote:

What I'm saying is, people should use their actual common sense.

In looking out at my driveway, which has roughly the same area as the platform, I can easily picture 100 people standing on it with room to spare.

My reference to the engineering degree was valid, because I would say people did use their common sense to take into consideration the platform was safe.

Now, taking all this into consideration, it's still difficult to fault these people. It would be no different had a roof collapsed on a group of people standing in line for a ride at an amusement park (which packs people in lines unlike the platform did).

If there was any concern these people had, it would be dealing with the crowd in trying to make their way to an advantage spot for a photo.

If the winds were roughly 40 mph, I can surmise there were more powerful gusts. At this point, it was the event holder's responsibility to ensure the safety of the crowd and they, obviously not using common sense or their engineering expertise, refused to shut down the platform, or at the least, control the crowd.

Regardless, I find the 30% injury rate interesting, which tells me there weren't 100 people on the platform at the time of the collapse. But that's just my interpretation.

Tofusensei wrote:

I hope that was a poor attempt at sarcasm and not a genuine response.

It wasn't even sarcasm, but just a slight jab at the missing reference to the one who said the quote, leading me to believe it was Kong himself.

I mean, what if the quote came from the movie Amadeus?

I do believe dtm42 didn't take it as being mean spirited.

It's not just the fact that there were 100 people squeezed onto such a small platform it is that they were all women aged 40-70 - if they were all students you might understand it since you would expect them to be, on average, smaller, lighter and stupider.