Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Nov 1: Officers handled earlier emergency calls about the impending tragedy poorly, which contributed to their failure to stop a recent mob surge that killed more than 150 people during Halloween celebrations in Seoul, according to the South Korean police chief.
The admission came as the South Korean government came under increasing public scrutiny regarding whether the crowd surge that occurred on Saturday night in Seoul’s popular nightlife district, Itaewon, could have been avoided and who should bear responsibility for the nation’s worst disaster in years.
“I feel a heavy responsibility (for the disaster) as the head of one of related government offices,” Yoon Hee Keun, commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency said.
Yoon claimed that a preliminary inquiry revealed that while officers had received numerous urgent calls from civilians warning them of the possible threat posed by a crowd assembling in Itaewon, they had failed to adequately address them.
According to Yoon, the police have already initiated a thorough internal investigation to delve deeper into the officers’ handling of the emergency calls and other matters, such as their immediate response to the crowd surge in Itaewon that evening.
Itaewon’s calamity, which claimed at least 156 lives and injured 151 others, was centred in a downward, small alley. Witnesses recounted people colliding with one another, having trouble breathing, and losing consciousness. They also described how the entire Itaewon area was jam-packed with slow-moving vehicles and a multitude of partygoers wearing Halloween costumes, making it impossible for rescuers and ambulances to arrive at the crowded alleys in time.
