Original subtitles

[narrator] The skyscraper --

towering over our sprawling cities, these massive vertical

structures are a symbol of engineering

innovation and progress.

But the race to build higher, faster, and more often also

increases the chances of disaster.

A summer afternoon in 1995, the failure to acknowledge

and accept essential engineering principles leads

to the death of 502, when support columns collapse in

a South Korean department store, crushing

the shoppers and staff.

The floors pancaked down on top of each other.

In April 2013, 1,134 workers at an overcrowded Bangladeshi

garment factory lose their lives when the unlicensed

and unstable eight-story building collapses

under its own weight.

The building collapses floor by floor

in a catastrophic domino effect.

And in June 2017, 72 residents die in a 24-story-high

London tower block.

Reckless engineering practices and cheap construction

materials turned the building they called home into

a towering inferno that burned for days.

So they're trapped in place, and the building is

burning down around them.

With our population only set to rise in the future,

what lessons have been learned

by these catastrophic engineering failures?

[main theme playing]

June 14, 2017.

London, England, in the Kensington district.

It's 12:54 AM, when 999, the UK's emergency call number,

receives a phone call that will plunge the UK capital

into horror.

[operator] Fire brigade.

[Behailu] Yeah, hello, hi.

Fire in flack 16, Grenfell Tower.

-[operator] Sorry, a fire where? -[Behailu] Flat 16,

Grenfell Tower, [indistinct].

[operator] Fire brigade are on their way.

Are you outside?

[Behailu] Yeah, yeah, I'm outside.

It's the fourth floor.

-[operator] Right, OK. -Quick, quick, quick, quick.

-[operator] They're on their way. -It's burning.

[phone line beeps]

The man on the other end of the line is Behailu Kebede,

a 44-year-old taxi driver.

He is jolted awake by the alarm of his smoke detector and,

to his horror, discovers that his kitchen is on fire.

The fire spreads quickly throughout the apartment

and then the building.

While Behailu Kebede and his roommates managed

to safely escape the building,

not all the residents are so lucky.

Most of the 293 occupants are trapped inside

the now-infamous Grenfell Tower.

I got woken up by the sounds of screaming of people down

below, people screaming, "Don't jump, don't jump,

stay indoors."

[fire crackling]

[Daniel] The residents need to evacuate, but they can't

because their way is obstructed by flames.

[sirens wailing]

[Rob] Smoke fills the hallways and the central stairwell.

[Daniel] The firefighters are doing their best, trying to find

the old, the sick, trying to get them out of the building.

[Rob] Despite their best efforts, there's no way

they're gonna evacuate every resident safely.

[dramatic music playing]

[screaming]

Despite the arrival of multiple firefighting

reinforcements, it has little effect.

Grenfell Tower is a blazing inferno,

burning uncontrollably,

leaving the firefighters powerless.

It takes almost three days for London's firefighters to

finally explain extinguished the fire.

This is a completely unprecedented fire.

In my 29 years of being a firefighter, I have never,

ever seen anything of this scale.

72 people lost their lives that night, and many more

lost their homes.

Entire families perished, trapped in their apartments

within this towering inferno.

77 survivors are injured. Hundreds are traumatized.

How did a building in one of the world's most developed

cities catch fire?

With 24 floors, 20 of which are dedicated to social housing,

Grenfell Tower contains 120 apartments.

Each floor consists of four three-room apartments on

the outer sides of the building,

and in the middle, two two-room apartments.

Behailu had arrived home to flat 16 on the fourth floor

by 11:30 PM. He's soon fast asleep.

It's the beginning of a real nightmare.

[siren drones]

Unbeknownst to him, a small fault behind

his refrigerator would start a small fire in his kitchen.

[Dr. Shini] At 12:48, Behailu is abruptly awoken

by the kitchen smoke alarm.

The kitchen is already thick with smoke, and he can

see the fridge-freezer ablaze.

[dramatic music playing]

After waking his roommates and alerting his neighbors,

he leaves the building to call emergency services.

[Behailu] Yeah, hello, hi. Fire in flat 16, Grenfell Tower.

At 12:59 AM, the firefighters arrive on scene.

When the fire brigade arrives on scene, they issue an order

to the occupants of the building not to evacuate.

The risk was that by a alerting all the residents in

a high-story building of the presence of a fire in

a small flat, that there'd be mayhem as everybody tried to

escape down the stairwells at the same time, that there could

be injuries and potentially even fatalities.

[dramatic music continues]

When firefighters ask residents to stay inside,

it's because they're following a protocol based on a building

regulation that dates back to 1962.

This regulation states that in large buildings like

Grenfell Tower, if a fire breaks out, an apartment must

be able to contain the flames for 30 to 60 minutes,

allowing firefighters time to intervene.

This is known as "compartmentation."

[Dr. Shini] But its effectiveness depends on the quality

of materials, maintenance, and the building's design.

At 1:14 AM, firefighters reach Behailu Kebede's kitchen.

This should've been a moment of relief, the turning point

where they can take control of the situation.

But in reality, it's already too late.

Mr. Kebede's small refrigerator fire was not

contained within the kitchen.

It was not contained within his flat.

[rock music playing]

When the building was constructed in 1974,

engineers decided not to place load-bearing walls between

apartments, but instead only used thin partitions

to maximize space.

The fire had escaped ten minutes ago through

an exterior kitchen window.

Windows are key elements of compartmentation.

The reason the fire spread so quickly was because the windows

had been changed.

In the early 2000s, nine million pounds sterling

was spent on renovating and modernizing Grenfell Tower.

It was decided to replace these older-style,

less efficient windows with uPVC framed

double-glazed windows.

[Rob] PVC windows increase the energy efficiency of the homes inside.

However, PVC is flammable.

When exposed to extreme heat, PVC begins to warp.

The dimensional stability of PVC is such that since it

shrinks and changes size,

it's not good for compartmentation.

The new windows are also slightly smaller

than the originals.

To compensate, the engineers installed

protective PVC barriers around the windows.

But these barriers are also flammable.

When the fire in flat 16 breaches the window and reaches

the combustible materials between the gap, it effectively

creates a bridge for the fire to move outside.

It crept out of the window and started climbing

up the building.

[Rob] If you wanna compare the Grenfell fire to a box of

matches, the fire that broke out behind Mr. Kebede's fridge

is one match from that box.

The cladding on the outside of the building is

the entire box of matches.

[narrator] In the early 2000s, ££9 million sterling was spent

on renovating and modernizing Grenfell Tower.

[dramatic music playing]

The cladding was meant to improve thermal insulation

and weather resistance.

The panels that were chosen to be used were made of two thin

sheets of aluminum with a core

of a material called "polyethylene."

Polyethylene is a highly flammable material.

[fire crackling]

[dramatic music intensifies]

You have a great airflow in between the cladding

and the building to feed a small flame

into a huge fire very quickly.

This is particularly bad, because that gap is large

enough, it creates a chimney for the flames to jump higher.

♪♪

At 1:30 AM, the fire reaches the 24th and final floor,

spreading across the entire height of the tower.

By 1:47 AM, it begins to spread along the northern face.

[Daniel] This is the tragic part of the story where the original

order to shelter in place

due to the fire is the exact wrong call,

because now the entire building is on fire.

Hundreds of people were now trapped by the flames.

It isn't until 2:47 AM, an hour and 39 minutes after

the fire began, that the authorities finally

order the evacuation of the building.

But it's too late.

As fire crews desperately try to extinguish the blaze both

inside and outside the building, Grenfell Tower is

completely engulfed in flames.

The people trapped inside are quickly becoming overcome with

smoke and fire.

People can't see where they're going.

They don't know where they're going.

So they're trapped in place, and the building is burning

down around them.

If they can't get out of the building, they will perish.

Adding even more chaos to this tragedy,

the self-closing fire doors fail to work,

allowing the fire to spread even faster.

Unfortunately, the apartments and common areas of

Grenfell Tower are not equipped with any automatic

water sprinkler systems.

[dramatic music playing]

A monumental failure that shocked the entire world

and doomed many residents of Grenfell Tower.

In total, 250 firefighters and 70 fire engines across

London were deployed to battle the fire.

The next morning, at approximately 8 AM,

the last survivor is evacuated from the building,

but the blaze has not yet died out.

[Rob] It took several days for the fire to be extinguished

completely, but the legacy of the disaster at Grenfell

would last for years to come.

[sad string music playing]

The faces of the 72 victims, including 18 children,

will forever haunt the memories

of those who witnessed this tragedy.

[crowd chanting indistinctly]

An investigation soon followed.

[crowd continues chanting]

Behailu Kabede was not held responsible for the fire

and gave crucial testimony about his actions

on that fateful night.

After 400 days of hearings, an 1,800-page report exposes

a terrifying account of errors and negligence.

[Dr. Shini] The poor management of the building in terms of fire

safety, the inadequate response from the fire brigade

and primarily the inappropriate combustible materials added

to the building during the refurbishment all played

a part in the tragedy.

The remains of Grenfell Tower still sits in

the Kensington neighborhood.

In 2022, the British government passes the Building Safety Act

to prevent further disasters.

[Rob] At Grenfell, the key component to the disaster was

inappropriate cladding attached to the outside of the building.

But if you're out on a shopping trip enjoying your day,

the last thing you imagine is that the roof above you is

a death trap.

June 29, 1995, in Seoul, South Korea.

On this summer evening, the luxury stores in

the upscale Seocho district are crowded with customers.

One of them is the Sampoong Department Store.

Spread across five floors and four basements, it's one of

the largest stores in the area.

[Dr. Shini] The Sampoong Department Store is a prime

destination for the city's wealthy shoppers.

5:52 PM as customers stroll, shop...

and eat, the unimaginable happens.

[Dr. Shini] Shoppers and staff on the upper levels feel

the building buckle beneath them,

leaving little time to react.

[ominous music builds]

[rumbling]

The floors pancaked down on top of each other,

bringing the shops and the shoppers with it.

In less than 30 seconds, the entire south wing of

the building collapses, tragically trapping or killing

those unable to escape in time.

[overlapping screaming]

[crashing, shattering]

More than 1,500 people are trapped under the rubble in

what will become one of the deadliest structural

collapses in modern history.

[sirens distantly wailing]

[panicked indistinct chatter]

The disaster claims 502 lives.

937 people remain permanently injured.

How could such an important building, visited by thousands

of people everyday suddenly collapse

in just a few seconds?

[people wailing and sobbing]

[Dr. Shini] Could this horrific incident have been avoided?

Is there a fatal engineering involved here?

At the end of the 1980s, South Korea experienced

an economic and social boom.

Its capital, Seoul, was preparing to host

the 1988 Summer Olympics.

To accommodate the expected influx of tourists,

major construction projects emerged.

Hotels, residential buildings, and commercial spaces sprang up

at an astonishing pace.

However, at this time, there is a national policy that

construction contracts will only be awarded

to South Korean companies.

[tools drilling]

The investment opportunities in construction are plain to see

to South Korea's millionaires.

Lee Joon was one of those involved.

This 73-year-old businessman leads a family-owned

real estate investment group called Sampoong.

♪♪

[Rob] Lee Joon commissions engineers and architects

to design a luxury four-story apartment block with a basement

that would be used for parking vehicles.

And the design gets underway to construct exactly that.

However, before spades are put in the ground, Lee Joon

changes his mind.

[Dr. Shini] Lee Joon decided he wanted a department store,

a jewel in his property empire.

[cash till dings]

After construction permits had already been approved

and signed, Lee Joon encountered an obstacle.

To comply with local regulations,

his department store could not consist solely

of commercial spaces.

To bypass this issue, the businessman decided to add

a fifth floor.

[pop music playing]

♪ There are some... ♪

Initially, plans called for a lightweight

roller skating rink.

However, Lee Joon later opted for a far heavier food court,

complete with underfloor heating.

But these changes were never signed off by experts

from a structural perspective.

[floor crackling]

This food court weighed approximately 1,530 kilograms

per square meter, increasing the load on

the structure by nearly 50%.

This additional weight had not been accounted for in

the original design.

It's typical to have revisions to the design

before construction happens.

But after construction happens, it's very difficult for

the builder to accommodate these changes because material

is purchased, the construction is in process.

Aware of the danger,

the construction company refused to carry out

these modifications, but Lee Joon was determined

to build his fifth floor at any cost.

Ignoring the advice of experts, he made a mistake

that would have serious consequences.

Lee Joon replaced them with his own in-house team from

the Sampoong Group, ensuring that the fifth floor

was built to his specifications.

Since he owned the company, he just circumvented

the official channels and forced the changes through

without any legal oversight.

Additionally, he pays off officials to sign off and let

his modifications go through.

On July 7, 1990, Lee Joon's luxury shopping center opened

its doors to the public.

The Sampoong Department Store quickly became

a landmark in the district.

It welcomed 40,000 visitors per day, generated four million

U.S. dollars per week for its owner.

Everything seems to be going well at first, but over time,

the restaurant's ceiling shows worrying signs.

It develops abnormal cracks for a brand-new building

of this size.

By June 1995, the cracks in the fifth floor are enormous,

some of them measuring 10 centimeters in width.

The cause? Three unplanned elements

in the initial construction plans,

three 15-ton machines

that will turn the Sampoong Department Store

into a deadly structure.

When Lee Joon modified the building's plans,

he had the air conditioners replaced.

Because there was now extra capacity with an extra floor,

the air conditioning units needed to be bigger than those

that were originally designed when it was just

a four-story building.

These air conditioning units, when they create quite a noise.

And running all day and night,

the neighbors eventually complain.

And so the solution is to move the air conditioning units away

from the parts of the building that create noise complaints.

They're moved 15 meters further to the other side

of the roof.

But to achieve this result, not everything was done

by the book.

To do that properly would require the use of a crane.

This is too expensive.

So the cheaper solution would be would be to just take

rollers and roll the air conditioning units from one

side of the roof to the other.

[Dr. Shini] The relocation was carried out without any structural

reinforcement, and the roof had not been designed to bear

the considerable weight.

[floor cracks]

It's 10 AM on June 29, 1995.

As customers flood the department store,

the restaurant employees on the fifth floor notice unusual

noises and cracking sounds coming from the ceiling.

[crackling]

[Dr. Shini] Now, those on the fifth floor watch

as the cracks grow larger and more numerous.

Adding to the panic, employees and shoppers feel

strong vibrations emanating from the air conditioning units

on the roof.

[tense music playing]

Around 5 PM, the facilities manager comes

to inspect the cracks.

He turns off the air conditioning units in the hope

of stopping the vibrations that seem to be

worsening the cracks.

An evacuation order is issued, but it's already too late.

Fearing for their lives, the building's directors

and board members who have offices inside the building

flee the scene.

They leave approximately 1,500 customers and employees of

Sampoong to a tragic fate.

There's a breaking point with this structure,

and that breaking point is about to be reached.

June 29, 1995, 5:52 PM.

The restaurant floor is the last barrier protecting

the hundreds of Sampoong customers who are calmly

shopping on the lower floors,

unaware of what has just happened.

The massive units, along with the cracked

and fragile roof, plunge downwards.

[Rob] That's only the start of a domino effect.

The increase in size of the air conditioning units the roof

isn't the only modification that's at fault

for this disaster.

By altering the original design, Lee Joon didn't just

add a fifth floor. He also had columns modified.

In the original plans, each column should've been

80 centimeters in diameter.

But to create more space and install his grand central

escalator, Lee Joon had eight columns reduced

by 20 centimeters each.

Lee Joon reduced the dimensions of the vertical supporting

columns there to hold up each floor above it.

But also, he moved the position of those columns, meaning that

certain areas were totally under supported.

And when you mess with the columns, you're messing

with the structural integrity of the entire structure.

Especially since these columns are crucial

for this specific building design.

The method is called flat slab construction.

[Daniel] The flat slab construction is nice because it

opens up the floors, it creates a lot of open area,

but the problem is the support columns are

the critical mechanical components.

The support columns in flat slab construction are so

critical because all of the weight of the floors

and everything that's on the floor is reacted down

through the columns into the ground.

[dramatic music playing]

By ignoring sound engineering principles and pushing ahead

with unsafe modifications, he left his building teetering

on the edge of catastrophe.

It's still 5:52 PM.

The columns cannot withstand the weight of the fifth floor.

The three air conditioners continue their fatal plunge

toward the hundreds of people below.

The force of the collapse of those air conditioning units

with part of the floor above down onto the fourth floor is

too much for the supporting columns.

That floor collapses down onto the third, onto the second.

Overburdened support columns on the lower floors begin to

fail one by one, causing each floor to pancake into the next.

[sirens wailing]

[crowd chatter]

Of the entire Sampoong Department Store, only two

outer walls remain standing, towering over a massive

pile of debris.

[indistinct chanting]

Lee Joon is sentenced to ten and a half years in prison for

criminal negligence, while his son receives

seven years for manslaughter and corruption.

[indistinct protesting continues]

The South Korean government orders inspections on all

buildings constructed during the economic boom.

[Dr. Shini] Hundreds of buildings are deemed unsafe.

Of those inspected, one in seven require intensive

rebuilding, and only one in fifty is found to meet

acceptable safety standards.

[Daniel] Building regulations are there for a reason.

Like, the permitting process is an important step

in reviewing designs.

[people wailing]

The collapse of the Sampoong Department Store became

a tragic symbol of the excesses of the era.

An era where the pursuit of profit led to the creation of

a deadly structure.

[Rob] Although with some skyscrapers, it's not the roof

that's the risk, it's the walls.

In Bangladesh in 2013, inappropriate structural

decisions would be the cause of fatal engineering.

We are in Savar, a suburb of Dhaka,

the capital of Bangladesh.

This is the beating heart of the country, thanks to

the textile industry,

which accounts for three quarters of the national

economy and employs nearly four million of its citizens,

80% of whom are women and young girls.

♪♪

A portion of these low-cost garments are manufactured in

this eight-story building,

the Rana Plaza.

Standing 25 meters tall and 75 meters long, it is one

of the main production sites for famous European

and American fashion brands.

The first floors are populated by office workers,

but in the higher floors, it's factory workers who are

dependent on their day-to-day pay to live their lives.

On April 24, 2013, nothing seemed to mark

Rana Plaza for notoriety.

Yet it would go down in history as one

of the country's deadliest catastrophes.

At 8:54 AM, the building collapses on top

of the 3,000 workers inside.

There's almost a slow-motion domino rally as floor after

floor after floor collapse down onto each other, taking with it

all of the heavy machinery and all of the 3,000 workers

who now become trapped inside.

[sirens wailing]

[dramatic music playing]

Many are saved, but the sheer scale of the destruction

quickly overwhelms rescue efforts, leaving countless

victims unreachable in time.

Bangladesh.

April 24, 2013, would go down in history as one of

the country's deadliest catastrophes.

[siren wailing]

At 8:54 AM, the Rana Plaza collapses on top

of the 3,000 workers inside.

The disaster claims 1,134 lives.

[cries, crowd chatter]

What happened to cause this building to suddenly collapse?

[tragic music playing]

Was it doomed from the start due to fatal engineering?

We must look at the origins of its construction

and the man behind it.

♪♪

[chatter and traffic noises]

In 2006, permission was granted to businessman and local

politician, Sohel Rana, to construct a four-story-high

building for light commercial use, things like

offices and banks.

[Dr. Shini] Although the architect's designs are signed off

and a structural engineer is initially involved,

the choice of locations sets the project up for failure.

Sohel Rana chose cheap land, not necessarily suitable for

a building -- wetlands.

[Daniel] The foundation for any structure is very important,

because it's literally the ground in which

you build anything on.

If you have a shaky foundation, the building itself will have

not a good ground to stand on.

Building on wetlands presents many challenges.

The taller the building, the deeper the foundations must

be to reach solid, stable ground.

To build a good building, it's important to have a good

foundation, but it's also important

to use good materials.

In this case, Rana Plaza was constructed

of reinforced cement concrete.

While reinforced concrete has advantages,

improper implementation can have catastrophic consequences.

If the steel reinforcement is poor quality,

insufficient or misplaced,

the structure becomes dangerously weak.

[walls crackling]

When Rana Plaza is completed in 2006, certain businesses

move in as planned.

It houses a bank, offices, and several stores.

Emboldened by the success of his building, Sohel Rana starts

eyeing new opportunities.

With demand for a commercial space soaring,

he wastes no time.

The very next year, he decides to expand.

[chatter and traffic noise]

He sought permission from the authorities and the correct

structural and engineering advice so that it would be

built in the correct way.

[Dr. Shini] With little resistance, he quickly secures approval

for a fifth floor, which is completed in record time.

A fifth floor is built with reinforced concrete.

[Daniel] The problem with adding additional floors to

an existing structure is the original design of

those four floors, it's being asked to do more than it

actually should be doing. This is a recipe for disaster.

But Rana isn't satisfied.

By the early 2000s, Bangladesh is becoming

the epicenter of global garment production,

a powerhouse for fast fashion.

With low labor costs, just over 100 U.S. dollars a month,

major fashion brands flock to the country to churn out

clothing at record speed.

For local entrepreneurs, this booming demand

spells profit.

And of course, Sohel Rana wants in.

He moves into the fashion industry, a decision that will

seal the fate of the Rana Plaza.

To accommodate these lucrative industrial tenants, Rana adds

three more floors.

This time, he skips the formalities.

No permissions are sought,

and no qualified engineers consulted.

Each unauthorized floor increases the vertical load on

the building, far exceeding what the original structure was

designed to support.

The building's columns, originally designed

for just four floors, are now bearing the crushing weight

of eight floors.

Without proper reinforcements, the load distribution becomes

dangerously uneven, some columns

straining more than others.

[Daniel] Not only is the additional floors in Rana Plaza a problem

for the building, but also the machinery that's

added to the upper floors to create the clothing, a lot of

heavy machinery that had a lot of rotating components.

[Dr. Shini] After seven years of operation, on Tuesday,

April 24, 2013, the day before the fatal collapse,

managers and employees arrived for work as usual.

But the routine is disrupted when numerous large cracks are

discovered in the walls and floors of the lower levels,

which house a bank and retail stores.

[faint crackling]

Alarmed by the news, Sohel Rana consults

Abdur Razzak Khan, a local civil engineer who had already

helped him construct the last three floors.

After a quick inspection, the situation is obvious.

He makes it very clear that the building is unsafe and that

it needs to be evacuated immediately.

What does Sohel Rana do? Doesn't do that.

Goes on TV and tells everyone "It's OK, there's no problems,

these cracks are normal, this is a safe building."

This is entirely negligent and, as we will see,

contributes to the overall disaster.

[Dr. Shini] Rana Plaza.

After seven years of operation, on Tuesday, April 24, 2013,

numerous large cracks are discovered in the walls

and floors of the lower levels, which house a bank

and retail stores.

As a precaution, employees of the bank and stores on

the lower floors are asked to stay home the next day.

But the workers on the upper floors, the beating heart of

the garment industry,

receive a very different message.

They are ordered to come to work.

Some workers express their fears and reluctance

to enter of the building, but for many,

there is no real choice.

The work is hard and poorly paid, but they depend

on it to survive.

[dramatic music playing]

On April 24, 2013, the day of the collapse,

3,000 workers nervously show up for work.

8:45 AM...

a power outage paralyzes the building,

shifting the deafening clatter of sewing machines

into an eerie silence.

This is a fairly regular occurrence in Bangladesh.

It's nothing out of the ordinary.

And almost instantaneously, the generators on the roof

fire up to make sure that the workers can continue

churning out garments.

But these generators do more than just restore electricity

to the factory. They also create vibrations.

[dramatic music builds]

This further weakens the building's

reinforced concrete structure.

As the generators start up, there's a shudder through

the building that many of the workers are used to.

But on this particular day, those vibrations, that loud

shudder doesn't stop after a number of seconds.

The workers sense disaster.

8.54 AM,

as the wall continue to tremble with a deafening roar,

the inevitable happens.

The generators break through the roof and begin

a catastrophic descent, plunging the workers

of Rana Plaza into chaos.

The support columns give way and the building collapses

floor-by-floor in a catastrophic domino effect.

-[rumbling] -[people screaming]

In less than two minutes, Rana Plaza is reduced to a pile

of concrete and steel.

[people yelling indistinctly]

[siren wailing]

An unspeakable tragedy, one that could've been

avoided at every stage of this building's existence.

Of the 3,000 workers present that day, 1,134 do not survive.

Hundreds are injured.

[people yelling and protesting]

Sohel Rana is sentenced to a mere three years in prison

for corruption.

As of 2024, he is still in custody, awaiting the outcome

of his long-delayed murder trial.

The catastrophe raised awareness among the media

and Western consumers regarding the inhumane conditions for

Bangladeshi textile workers.

[indistinct protestations]

Under pressure from human rights activists,

new regulations are imposed on major international brands

to ensure fairer wages and safer working environments.

[dramatic music playing]

And these examples of fatal engineering goes to show that

it's crucial that the lessons learned from previous mistakes

are not repeated, so that the buildings we visit

are always safe.

Whether through corruption, incompetence, or coercion,

poor decisions and unscrupulous individuals sealed the fate of

innocent lives who paid the ultimate price

because of fatal engineering.