Woman dies after plunging 12 meters from mart rooftop parking lot built without proper permits

A woman in her 20s died after her vehicle plunged 12 meters from the rooftop parking lot of a food mart, and investigators have since found that the facility had been altered in violation of building codes.

Suwon Gwonseon Police Station said Tuesday it plans to refer the mart's owner, a man in his 50s identified only as A, to prosecutors on charges of violating the Building Act.

A is accused of converting part of the rooftop — which had been approved as a landscaping area when the building was completed in 2019 — into a parking lot without going through the required change-of-use procedures.

However, investigators found that the rooftop parking lot's entrance had been blocked with rubber cones and similar barriers to prevent customer access, meaning it was not actually used as a parking lot.

The accident occurred on Aug. 12, when a compact SUV fell from the rooftop parking lot to the ground 12 meters below. The driver, a woman in her 20s identified as B, was killed. She had reportedly been practicing driving there with her mother ahead of a license exam when the vehicle went over the edge.

Police said the accident itself was not caused by the building code violation, but determined that converting the landscaping area into a parking lot without the proper change-of-use process was nonetheless unlawful.