Police had acquired 11 reviews of harmful crowding in Itaewon as much as 4 hours earlier than the tragedy unfolded.
South Korean police investigators have raided regulation enforcement and emergency response workplaces within the capital, Seoul, as a part of an investigation into the deaths of greater than 150 individuals who have been crushed to demise throughout Halloween celebrations.
The raids on Wednesday got here as calls for mounted for South Korean police to clarify why they took little motion regardless of receiving a number of emergency calls about harmful crowd ranges as much as 4 hours earlier than a crush killed 156 individuals on Saturday night time.
A particular investigation unit retrieved paperwork and different supplies from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Company and from Yongsan’s police station, district workplace, fireplace division, and the headquarters of Seoul Metro, South Korea’s official Yonhap Information Company reported.
The Itaewon leisure space, the place the tragedy unfolded, is positioned within the metropolis’s Yongsan district.
Anger has adopted the publication of transcripts of emergency calls despatched to police exhibiting that within the 4 hours earlier than the group surge turned lethal, police had acquired 11 reviews of harmful crowding within the Itaewon space.
Police responded to 4 of the 11 reviews by deploying officers to the websites to disperse crowds. As soon as dispersed, the officers returned to different duties and no motion was taken within the case of the seven remaining emergency calls, in response to the Yonhap Information Company.
“A ‘Code 0’ police order calling for the promptest attainable response had been issued for one of many 11 reviews whereas the second-highest ‘Code 1’ had been utilized to seven others, however cops did not take acceptable motion,” Yonhap reported.
Transcripts of the emergency calls warned in stark phrases of the state of affairs unfolding within the 3.2-metre-wide alley within the Itaewon space, the place 156 individuals died after a crowd surge trapped the largely younger revellers who started to fall and pile up on one another. Greater than 150 others have been injured, together with 29 who stay in critical situation.
The primary particular person to file a report 4 hours earlier than the tragedy unfolded had urged police to take motion and management the crowds, Yonhap reported.
“I really feel like I'd be virtually crushed to demise right here as a result of individuals continued to come back up despite the fact that no extra can go down … I barely escaped, however police want to manage the world as a result of the group is simply too large,” in response to an extract from the emergency report revealed by Yonhap.
(LEAD) (Information Focus) Police beneath fireplace for lax response to emergency calls hours earlier than Itaewon crush https://t.co/FcnrtCnVTK
— Yonhap Information Company (@YonhapNews) November 2, 2022
Police deployed to the scene however “closed the case with out tangible motion”, the information company mentioned.
A second report was acquired 90 minutes later informing police that “there are individuals who fell over and bought damage as a result of there are too many individuals”, in response to Yonhap.
Different reviews to police, greater than an hour earlier than the tragedy, conveyed the urgency of the state of affairs: “We're on the verge of a horrible accident because of the huge crowds”, and one other, “I'm virtually being crushed to demise”.
Yonhap mentioned South Korea’s Nationwide Police Company had voluntarily launched the transcripts of the police reviews from the night time of the accident to display a willingness “to resolve the reality”.
‘Insufficient’ police response
An inquiry into the police dealing with of the Halloween night time tragedy can be launched shortly, with the opportunity of the probe turning into a prison investigation if cops are discovered to have acted negligently, Yonhap mentioned.
South Korea’s Prime Minister Han Duck-soo mentioned on Wednesday that police wanted to clarify their actions, the Reuters information company reported.
“The police should conduct thorough inspections and supply a transparent and clear rationalization to the general public,” Han mentioned on the televised starting of a process pressure assembly on the catastrophe.
Officers with South Korea’s opposition Democratic Social gathering additionally known as on Wednesday for each police and authorities officers to take accountability for the general public security failings that led to the lethal occasion.
A presidential official additionally informed Yonhap on Wednesday that President Yoon Suk-yeol was enraged by the dearth of motion by police in responding to the 11 calls and reviews of harmful crowding in Itaewon.
On Tuesday, South Korea’s Nationwide Police Commissioner Basic Yoon Hee-keun mentioned he felt “limitless accountability about public security over this accident”.
The police commissioner acknowledged that a number of reviews had been acquired by police telling of the “seriousness” of the state of affairs earlier than the tragedy unfolded and that the dealing with of the data had been “insufficient”.
South Korea’s inside minister Lee Sang-min and Seoul’s Mayor Oh Se-hoon have additionally apologised.
The Halloween celebrations in Itaewon weren't an official occasion and didn't have a central organiser, which meant authorities weren't required to determine or implement official security protocols.
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