Story highlights
NEW: South Korean President Park Geun-hye expresses condolences to victims' families
More than 100 people are injured, two of them seriously
Busan University of Foreign Affairs students were at welcoming party off campus
A resort building in the city of Gyeongju collapsed, South Korean news agency says
A roof collapsed at a resort retreat for college freshmen in South Korea Monday, killing 10 people and injuring more than 100, South Korea’s National Emergency Management Association said.
Two of those hurt suffered heavy injuries but their lives are not in danger, officials said.
For hours, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that people were trapped as rescuers rushed to the resort building in the southern city of Gyeongju.
Emergency officials said Tuesday that they believed everyone had been accounted for, but wouldn’t know for sure until the building is dismantled.
Fire officials told Yonhap they had struggled to reach the mountainous area where the resort is located because it was snowing Monday night.
More than 560 first-year college students were in the building for a freshmen welcoming party when the collapse happened at 9:11 p.m. Monday, Yonhap reported.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye expressed “deep condolences” to the victims families.
“My heart is aching and it is very sad,” she said in a statement, calling for “a thorough investigation” into the cause of a the collapse.
Authorities said heavy snow was on the building’s roof, but the cause of the collapse wasn’t immediately determined, according to Yonhap.
The students attend Busan University of Foreign Affairs, about 80 kilometers south of where the party took place, Yonhap reported.
Gyeongju is about 300 kilometers south of the country’s capital, Seoul.
READ: South Korea asks for trust; North agrees, lets families have reunions
CNN’s Paula Hancocks contributed to this report.