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30+ Injured After Filming of Winter Sonata's Ending
posted on by Egan Loo
30 Japanese female visitors and three to four Korean men were injured in Gangneung City on the east coast of South Korea on Friday afternoon, after they watched the filming of the live-action ending to the Winter Sonata anime series. Strong winds caused the platform on which the visitors were standing to collapse. Most of the injuries were light, although one woman received more severe injuries on her face. Yong Joon Bae and Ji Woo Choi, the stars of the 2002 live-action Korean television drama that inspired the anime, were present at the scene but were not injured.
The incident occurred about 3:00 p.m. on Friday, after filiming of the ending was complete at a local resort. About 1,700 fans who came from Japan were in the middle of photographing themselves to commemorate their trip, and about 100 visitors used a platform, which was two meters (about six feet) wide and seven to eight meters (23-26 feet) long, for the photographing. Wind speed was about 20 meters per second (45 miles per hour). Local authorities are investigating the incident.
The injured visitors, who were women 40 to 70 years old, were treated at local hospitals. 54-year-old Kaori Hattori was transferred to a hospital in Seoul to treat her more serious facial injuries. Bae visited the injured at the hospitals.
The new ending in the 26th and final episode covers a part of the story that was not in original Korean drama.
Sources: Jiji Press, Mainichi Shimbun
