Police chief says authorities knew a big crowd had gathered in Itaewon earlier than the catastrophe, however the way in which this data was dealt with was ‘insufficient’.
South Korean police have mentioned crowd management measures on the scene of a lethal Halloween crush within the capital, Seoul, have been “insufficient”, promising robust new security measures to stop such a tragedy from taking place once more.
Nationwide Police Commissioner Common Yoon Hee-keun advised reporters on Tuesday that he felt “limitless duty about public security over this accident” that killed at the very least 156 folks.
The crush, which occurred in Seoul’s Itaewon district, was the deadliest such catastrophe in South Korea and occurred after an estimated 100,000 folks – many of their teenagers and twenties and wearing costume – flocked to the world’s bars, eating places and golf equipment to rejoice Halloween.
However neither police nor native authorities have been actively managing the group because the celebration was not an “official” occasion with a delegated organiser.
Nonetheless, Yoon mentioned, “there have been a number of stories to the police indicating the seriousness on the web site simply earlier than the accident occurred”.
Police knew “a big crowd had gathered even earlier than the accident occurred, urgently indicating the hazard,” he mentioned, acknowledging the way in which this data was dealt with had been “insufficient”.
“I'll do my finest to ensure such a tragedy as this doesn't happen once more,” Yoon mentioned, including that the “police will speedily and rigorously conduct intensive inspections and investigation on all elements with out exception to elucidate the reality of this accident”.
South Korea is often robust on crowd management, with protest rallies typically so closely policed that officers can outnumber contributors. On the time of the Itaewon catastrophe, about 6,500 officers have been current at a protest throughout city that was solely attended by about 25,000 folks, based on native media.
Police had beforehand mentioned they'd deployed 137 officers to Itaewon for Halloween.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who has declared a week-long interval of nationwide mourning, paid his respects to the victims of the catastrophe at a makeshift memorial on Tuesday.
On the memorial web site, situated close to the slender alleyway the place the catastrophe occurred, Yoon positioned a flower and bowed deeply.
Earlier within the day, he mentioned the nation wanted to urgently enhance its system for managing giant crowds.
“We should always give you concrete security measures to handle crowds, not solely on these streets the place this large catastrophe occurred however at different locations like stadiums and live performance venues the place giant crowds collect,” he mentioned at a cupboard assembly.
These should embrace “cutting-edge digital capabilities” to enhance crowd administration, he mentioned, however critics declare such instruments exist already and weren't deployed in Itaewon.
Seoul’s Metropolis Corridor has a real-time crowd monitoring system that makes use of cell phone knowledge to foretell crowd dimension, nevertheless it was not employed on Saturday night time, native media reported.
Itaewon’s authorities additionally didn't deploy any security patrols, with officers saying the Halloween occasion was thought of “a phenomenon” slightly than “a competition”, which might have required an official plan for crowd management.
On the night time, hundreds of individuals thronged a slender alleyway, with witnesses describing how, with no police or crowd management in sight, confused partygoers pushed and shoved, crushing these trapped within the lane.
Analysts mentioned the catastrophe may have been averted, even with solely a small variety of cops.
“Good, secure crowd administration isn't concerning the ratio, however concerning the crowd technique – for secure crowd capability, stream, density,” mentioned G Keith Nonetheless, a crowd science professor on the College of Suffolk.
South Korean professional Lee Younger-ju mentioned that if native police knew they'd be short-handed, they may have sought assist from native authorities and even residents and store house owners.
“It’s not simply the numbers,” Lee, a professor from the Division of Fireplace and Catastrophe on the College of Seoul, advised the AFP information company.
“The query is, how did they handle with the restricted quantity [of police] and what sort of measures did they take to make up for it.”
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