A special team of investigators registered a dozen police stations and fire stations to find out why they were not responding to the repeated calls for help due to the overcrowding of the streets.
South Korea’s government will make police “pay” for apparent negligence during last Halloween night in Seoul, which ended with the deaths of 156 people crushed in an uncontrolled crowd in the densely populated district of Itaewon. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo announced on Wednesday that an investigation has been opened and that security forces will be held responsible for failing to respond to numerous emergency calls he received from people trapped in the crowd.
According to the transcripts of the calls to the emergency services, dozens of participants at the Halloween party warned that the neighborhood was becoming a mousetrap due to the massive influx of people. Some of these communications show the desperation of the citizens, mostly young and many of them blocked without being able to move forward or backward for the size of the crowd.
“When every citizen makes an emergency call, it is because it is very urgent and needs help or action from the police,” said the prime minister, who has guaranteed that “the government will hold those responsible accountable as soon as possible. investigation has been completed.”
A few hours after the incident, which shocked Korean society, the interior minister, the Seoul police chief and the mayor acknowledged that there were shortcomings in the response to requests for help. It is estimated that more than 100,000 people literally invaded Itaewon for the Halloween party. Neither the police nor other authorities had established a check on the influx, as it was a spontaneous party.
The government has set up a group of dedicated investigators for the case, who have registered seven police stations, two fire stations and the Metropolitan Police Agency headquarters in recent hours. This department has admitted that there were 11 distress calls about the overcrowding in the area, four hours before the panicked crowd started a flight that trapped hundreds of young people in an alley barely four meters wide. In the meantime, there was no response from the police. A total of 156 people died from suffocation or crushing and another 151 were injured. Most of the fatalities are women and were in their twenties.
Source: La Verdad
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