Messages between emergency responders during the Itaewon crowd crush reveal confusion amid the absence of a central authority.

A transcript of the chatroom was released by main opposition Democratic Party(DP) Rep. Shin Hyun-young during a parliamentary session on Tuesday, lambasting health minister Cho Kyoo-hong for failing to take the lead in the situation.

In a message sent at 1:39 a.m. on October 30, a fire official asked if some 30 fatalities could be transferred to Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital nearby, but an official from the central situation room prioritized the transfer of some 40 injured victims for treatment.

When a similar request was made at 1:45 a.m., the central situation room urged emergency responders to first transfer those still alive.

The DP lawmaker criticized the health minister for failing to invoke his authority to save those who could be saved despite being present at the site of the tragedy. 

The minister, in response, said a related manual dictates that the head of the emergency medical facility, under the control of the fire chief, must command the site, adding that no emergency patient was neglected due to transfers of the deceased.