Moviegoer dozes off, wakes up trapped in theater

Movies

Published: 03 Feb. 2022, 16:02 Updated: 03 Feb. 2022, 17:49

Moviegoer dozes off, wakes up trapped in theater

On Jan. 29, a moviegoer fell asleep while watching a film in a CGV theater in Jeonju and had to be rescued by the 119 rescue squad. [YONHAP]

A moviegoer was trapped inside a theater in multiplex chain CGV located in Jeonju, North Jeolla, after employees failed to notice he had dozed off.

Jeonju Deokjin fire station said Thursday that it received a report that a person was trapped in a CGV theater on Jan. 29 around 12:45 a.m.

The man fell asleep while watching “The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure” starring actors Kang Ha-neul, Han Hyo-joo, Lee Kwang-soo, Kwon Sang-woo and Chae Soo-bin. When he woke up, all of the employees had left. The 119 rescue squads safely got him out of the building.

On an online community active in Jeonju, a netizen claiming to be the moviegoer’s wife uploaded a post on Jan. 29. “My husband fell asleep [while watching the film] but discovered that all of the employees had closed down the theaters and left,” she wrote. “He had to call 119 and came home at 1:13 a.m. [...] Don't movie theaters usually check whether or not all of the people have left before closing?”

Due to current Covid-19 social distancing restrictions, the last screening of a film cannot start after 9 p.m. The film that the moviegoer saw began at 9 p.m. and ended at 11:16 p.m.

The CGV theater branch left a comment on the post saying “It is evidently our fault that our employees did not see that our customer had not left theater No. 2 in which he saw the film and left without checking,” it said. “We’re sincerely sorry and apologize for causing discomfort and trouble to our customer.”

According to CGV, the staff directly apologized to the customer and the related employees filed a report about the incident. It also said that it will be educating staff to prevent similar incidents in the future.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]