A total of 158 people were killed and 196 injured by a crowd crush in Itaewon in Seoul’s Yongsan District on the night of October 29 ahead of Halloween.

More than 100-thousand people had flocked toward parts of Itaewon for Halloween festivities. Most of the fatalities occurred in a slanted alley beside the Hamilton Hotel that measured just four meters wide and some 45 meters long.

The tragedy sparked public outrage after the Yongsan District office and fire department authorities were found to have failed to devise appropriate safety measures despite projections that large crowds were likely to converge on the area that night. They also came under harsh criticism for their poor handling of the situation.

The National Police Agency set up a special team to investigate the crowd surge and assessed that the tragedy resulted from collective mishandling by the Yongsan District Office as well as the district’s police station and fire service.

The team found that police brass came to learn of the incident belatedly due to the police force’s poor incident reporting system, and that the police had failed to take active response measures despite receiving some ten 112 emergency calls four hours prior the crowd crush.

The National Assembly set up a special committee to look into the tragedy. It is set to conduct on-site inspections and hearings where lawmakers will question witnesses to get to the bottom of the crowd crush.

Photo : YONHAP News

1. Yoon Suk Yeol Assumes Office as S. Korea’s 20th President

2. US, S. Korea’s Central Banks Raise Key Rates to Fight Inflation

3. S. Korea’s Concerns Grow over IRA Clause on Electric Vehicles

4. N. Korea Engages in String of Military Provocations

5. S. Korea Gradually Returning to Normalcy in Year Three of Pandemic

6. Crowd Crush in Itaewon Claims 158 Lives

7. Global Cryptocurrency Market Thrown into Chaos Following Crash of TerraUSD, Luna

8. S. Korea Succeeds in Launching Homegrown Space Rocket Nuri

9. K-Culture Continues to Enjoy Huge Global Success

10. S. Korea Advances into Round of 16 for 1st Time in 12 Years in World Cup