image source,Reuters
The accident occurred on the night of October 29, 2022, killing 159 people.
A stampede occurred in Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea last October. After two and a half months of investigation, the South Korean police special department released a public report on January 13, blaming the local government and emergency services for their ineffective response, and did not hold senior officials accountable.
The accident occurred on the night of October 29, 2022. It is said that more than 100,000 people gathered in Itaewon to celebrate Halloween. The crowd was trapped in a narrow inclined alley and a stampede occurred, resulting in 159 deaths, most of them young people.
Investigators have arrested 6 local officials, including Lee Im Jae, then director of Yongsan Police Station in Seoul, and Park Hee-young, director of Yongsan District, Seoul.
Li Zhengmin (transliteration), the family member of the deceased, criticized the report in an interview with the BBC, saying that the report was like “a lizard cut off its tail to survive”.
Sun Jihan, director of the Itaewon Stampede Special Investigation Headquarters of the South Korean National Police Agency who is in charge of the investigation, pointed out that local government, police, fire department and subway officials are all “legally responsible for preventing and responding to disasters”.
But he said it was difficult to identify Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, National Police Agency chief Yoon Hee-geun, and Minister of Public Administration and Security Lee Sang-min as directly responsible.
Before the publication of the report, the Western Seoul District Prosecutors Office conducted a search operation on the police department involved in the case on the 10th. South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo quoted a source from the procuratorial agency as saying that this was because the Special Investigation Headquarters hoped to close the case before the Spring Festival, and hoped that the procuratorial department would come forward to search to speed up the efficiency.
The content of the report aroused criticism from the families of the deceased and the South Korean public, who believed that higher-level officials should be held accountable. In December last year, the South Korean parliament passed a motion calling for Interior Minister Lee Sang-min to step down.
Li Zhengmin, the family member of the deceased, expressed to the BBC that he hoped that the “commanding officials” would be held accountable, “that is, the Minister of the Interior, the head of the national police, and even the president should all be held accountable.”
His 28-year-old daughter Li Zhuying (transliteration) was originally married this year, and went to Itaewon with her fiancé that night. Only her fiancé survived, and Yin and Yang were separated from then on.
“I must get an apology from those in power so that my daughter can rest in peace,” Mr Li said. “I’ve told her that Dad will give it his all.”
The investigation pointed out that the local departments did not take preventive measures before the accident, and did not take appropriate measures after receiving the emergency call. The relevant units misjudged the situation, delayed sharing information, and lacked cooperation between departments. These superimposed mistakes led to mass casualties.
image source,Reuters
Public opinion believes that higher-ranking officials should be held accountable.
The Korean National Police Agency established a special investigation headquarters consisting of 501 people on November 1 last year, investigated 548 people, and analyzed as many as 180 CCTV images, social media and news related videos.
Records show police were called to the police hours before the stampede – at 18:34 Seoul time (09:34 GMT). Over the next three and a half hours, at least 10 more calls for help came from the area.
But of the 11 calls, police responded to only four of them, alerting people to overcrowding.
The BBC Korean website interpreted the report and pointed out that at the time of the incident, there were 6 to 10 people standing per 1 square meter at the scene. When the stampede happened, each person was subjected to an average force of 224 to 560 kilograms, which was huge pressure. The specific causes of death of the deceased included compression asphyxia, airway obstructive asphyxia, and cerebral edema caused by hypoxia.
Professor Bai Chengzhu of the Open Network University of Korea pointed out to the BBC Korean website that according to the relevant restrictions, only 5 people should stand per square meter at the scene.