Investigation of Human Behavior in Emergent Evacuation from an Underground Retail Store

Pedestrian evacuation from underground building in emergency situations could be influenced by the structure of buildings, characteristics of pedestrian movement and seriousness of emergency events. To understand the evacuation process of pedestrian in emergency, evacuation drills on an underground retail store and a questionnaire survey are conducted. The characteristics of human evacuation behaviour are discussed and the evacuation time and specific flow in each evacuation scenario are analyzed. The phenomenon of unbalance exit-selection is revealed, and more guidance devices are needed in the underground retail store. The results also indicate that obstacles nearby the emergency exits should be removed and the clustering places for evacuees should be far away from the emergency exits. It is concluded that the results could provide assessment of the accuracy of existing egress models, and ensure that building owners and managers have a sound basis for evacuation planning.