The investigative police team probing the fatal Itaewon crowd crush summoned the head of Yongsan District's public health center as a witness for questioning on Tuesday.

Investigators are looking into allegations that the center chief, Choi Jae-won, arrived at the site of the accident late and demonstrated negligence in his command of the rescue operation.

Choi was found to have neared the scene more than an hour after the tragedy struck, but returned to the district office without implementing an immediate response due to difficulties in accessing the site amid the large crowds. He was finally on site at 12:09 a.m. Sunday morning.

He is also suspected of falsifying an internal report, claiming that he had begun overseeing rescue efforts soon after arriving at the scene the first time.

The headquarters also plans to summon Yongsan fire chief Choi Seong-beom for the second time on Saturday, after he denied allegations that he had failed to act on a police request for joint response prior to the tragedy and did not take appropriate measures afterward.