A mourner places a flower to pay tribute to the victims of a deadly crowd crush, near Itaewon Station, central Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Team of 475 police officers investigating cause of Itaewon crush

By Jung Min-ho

President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee laid white chrysanthemums at an altar, Monday, set up in central Seoul to mourn the victims of a crowd crush that killed more than 150 people in the Itaewon nightlife district two days ago.

The altar at Seoul Plaza was filled with a somber silence as the two paid their respects to the deceased and as the country attempts to make sense of how an exuberant evening there suddenly turned into a nightmare.

Thousands of others also visited the altar, where they grieved over the tragedy. Some visitors quietly shed tears, while others were seen crying out loud.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, a total of 154 people died and 149 others were injured from the incident that occurred at a narrow, inclined alley next to Hamilton Hotel. Most of the deceased were young people in their 20s; six were teenage students.

Among the dead were 26 foreign nationals from China, Iran, Russia, the United States, France, Australia, Vietnam and Uzbekistan, Norway, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Austria and Japan.

The death toll could rise further, as more than 30 remain in serious condition.

President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee hold flowers as the two pay their respects for the victims of a deadly crowd crush that resulted in the deaths of more than 150 people, at a memorial alter in Seoul Plaza, central Seoul, Monday. Newsis

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo promised that the government will do its best to support the bereaved families, including foreign nationals, from covering funeral expenses to expediting visa services for those in need.

It was supposed to be a fun night out. Dressed as ghosts, animals or their favorite animation characters, as many as 100,000 people packed the streets of Itaewon. Many seemed to be excited to be able to attend the first mask-free Halloween parties that took place since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The tragedy happened when a massive crowd converged in a narrow alley measuring just 3.2 meters in width. Some of them, for unknown reasons, began to fall over, causing others near them to fall down like "dominoes" according to some witnesses. It was the beginning of the deadliest peacetime disaster in the capital since the 1995 Sampoong Department Store collapse.

Some witnesses claim several men wearing "rabbit hairbands" initiated the fall, saying that they shouted "push, push" and "we're stronger!" before fleeing the scene.

Police officers investigate the scene of a deadly crowd crush that resulted in the deaths of more than 150 people, in Itaewon, central Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Police are investigating whether they were telling the truth. A team of 475 investigators are now looking into all of the footage taken from CCTV cameras near the scene while collecting testimonies from the owners of nearby shops and crush survivors.

Police are also investigating those who are spreading false information and hate comments about the victims, urging the public refrain from posting such comments online. Nam Koo-joon, head of the investigation team, said he was determined to get to the bottom of the case.

Some witnesses say the government is at least partly responsible for the incident as it failed to prepare for a huge number of people converging in Itaewon, saying there was little crowd control in the area.

But Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min dismissed such criticism Sunday, saying the size of the crowd was not particularly high this year and that more police officers there would not have prevented the tragedy.

Apparently aware of public concerns, rival parties ― the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) ― denounced Lee and vowed to cooperate to improve safety measures.

"It is the responsibility of the government and the political circle to come up with measures to prevent similar accidents from happening ever again," Rep. Chung Jin-suk, interim chief of the PPP, said during a meeting at the National Assembly. "Please wait and see how the government handles this, find out the cause and devise support measures with mature civic consciousness."

Speaking to reporters, Hong Ki-hyun, chief of the National Police Agency's Public Order Management Bureau, admitted the failure of police to predict the danger a large number of visitors could create in Itaewon, where 137 police officers were on duty, and expressed regrets about their judgment.