International Nightlife Association regrets the tragedy at South Korean nightclub, demands investigation

International Nightlife Association regrets the tragedy at South Korean nightclub, demands investigation

Following the unpleasant accident occurred this past dawn at the Coyote Ugly Club located in the town of Gwangju (South Korea), resulting in two people killed and more than 15 people injured, on behalf of the International Nightlife Association we give our deepest condolences to the relatives of the victims and we wish a speedy recovery to the wounded, among which some are athletes who participated in the aquatic world swim championship this week.

Also, in these complicated moments, we make available to the South Korean authorities, all the knowledge, means and instruments we have available to try to prevent incidents such as the one that has happened. In first place, we believe that a thorough investigation of the incidents should be carried out since, as our organization has been able to find out, the works of expansion carried out at the premises would not have followed the legal process and had not been legalized, and therefore the venue would be in an illegal situation at the time of the accident. In addition, the premises could have exceeded the maximum allowed capacity, especially in the upper part, a factor that would have caused the upper structure to collapse and to precipitate over the people who were in the lower part of the premises. The International Nightlife Association, being aware of the difficulty of being able to detect in advance a problem such as that affecting the slab of one of the boxes of the affected nightclub, is planning to offer the South Korean security authorities the possibility to implement in their countries venues, the international security distinction specific for nightlife called “International Nightlife Safety Certified” and that the International Nightlife Association has been developing since 2012. One of the requirements that said distinction demands is to have a certificate of structural strength, and shortly it also intends to include the obligation to have a maximum precision capacity counter that has recently appeared on the market, all in addition to many other requirements that seek to protect health and users safety. The International Nightlife Association has been a member of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) since 2014, the highest tourism organization at an international level and to which our association was incorporated with the aim of improving safety in nightlife spaces around the world in coordination with the governments that are part of this organization that belongs to the United Nations.

The aforementioned INSC international safety distinction works as if it were an international license since, the premises that obtain it, can be identified in advance by the users who intend to visit them. Therefore, the first requirement to obtain this distinction is that the venues has the corresponding valid license. Currently, 7 clubs from Ibiza are implementing this seal and another 9 clubs in Barcelona and 7 in Tenerife have also recently implemented it, being the last one the venue Input High Fidelity Club in Barcelona. Other venues such as Cavalli Club Dubai also implemented it last year, being the first place in the world that implemented the Triple Excellence in Nightlife, which in addition to the international security seal incorporates a hallmark in acoustic quality and another in quality of service. Clubs from other countries such as Colombia, Argentina, the United States or Poland have recently been also interested in implementing the โ€œTriple Excellence in Nightlifeโ€.

As Joaquim Boadas de Quintana, General Secretary of the International Nightlife Association, has stated this morning, โ€œWe deeply regret the incident and we give all our support to the relatives of the victims. We must also say that the accident at the Coyote Ugly Club in South Korea is a totally isolated case and must be investigated, but it doesn’t mean that nightlife venues are insecure. Facts such as these unfairly and severely deteriorate the image of the nightlife industry at a local, national and international level, so it is very important that the public opinion visualizes that the nightlife sector bets openly and forcefully for the safety of its customers. Proof of this is the fact that for 7 years we have been working on the international INSC security seal, created specifically for nightlife, with the aim that any client from anywhere in the world – or their families – can see in advance, if a club meets international security requirements, which will be a key factor when it comes to attracting customers, especially internationally. “

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Chief Assignment editor is Oleg Siziakov

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