For foreign nationals, searching missing loved ones is like finding needle in haystack
Pictures of two American victims of Saturday's crowd crush in Itaewon are taped at a memorial space in Itaewon, Monday. Keith Yi, a Korean American volunteered to put up the pictures upon the requests of the victims' friends via social media. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Limited access to information and language barrier make search tough for foreigners
By Lee Hae-rin
An Iranian man stood in dismay in front of a memorial altar set up at Itaewon Station, just a few meters away from where a deadly crowd crush killed at least 154 people and injured hundreds of others on Saturday night, while many others still remain unaccounted for.
He was there to pay condolences to his deceased Iranian friends.
“I knew four of them (five Iranians were found dead from the incident),” he told The Korea Times, Monday, on condition of anonymity. “And then we had to wait many, many hours to know about our friends. Are they alive? Where are they?”
He said he could only learn the whereabouts of all four of them on Sunday around 3 p.m., after 10 hours of nail-biting, painful waiting.
“Some Korean friends helped us to find their names (on the list of casualties) and contacted hospitals. Very gradually, we found that four are dead,” he said, still unable to believe his friends are gone.
Maram Ben Hamouda, 20-year-old French student at Hanyang University, also came to pay condolences to her deceased friends at the memorial site. She hadn't heard from them since losing them in the crowd on Saturday night and learned about their deaths Monday morning during Korean class.
Foreign mourners place white flowers to pay condolences at a memorial site set up at Itaewon Station in central Seoul, for the victims of Saturday's deadly crowd crush that killed 154 people, including 26 foreign nationals. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
She said one of her colleagues tried to report them missing and some other friends posted messages on social media asking for their whereabouts. However, it was just this morning when her professor shared the tragic news in tears.
“They were so happy to study in Korea and they loved K-pop and K-dramas. We exchanged a lot during our project about this,” she said.
She testified that many of her foreign acquaintances here have gone through difficult times searching for their missing loved ones.
“I know some friends of friends who lost people and they only knew (about their death) the next day,” she said.
Searching for missing loved ones is painful for everyone. But the process brings additional torment for foreign nationals who face language barriers and have limited information about the disaster situation.
In response, Seoul Metropolitan Government started providing interpretation services in English, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese on 120 Dasan Call Center. The Hannam-dong Community Center in Yongsan District, where over 4,442 missing cases have been reported by friends and families, provided English interpretation in person to foreigners.
As of Monday, 153 of the 154 dead have been identified, including 26 foreign nationals. The deceased include five Iranians, four Chinese, four Russians, two Americans, two Japanese and one from each of France, Australia, Norway, Austria, Vietnam, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka.
The process of identification was uneasy for foreigners as well. On Sunday 6 p.m., the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (CDSCH) reported 20 foreign deaths, while the police announced 26. Some foreign nationals were wrongly identified as Koreans and the CDSCH belatedly corrected the figure.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin said during a meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee at the National Assembly on Monday that the ministry held four emergency meetings and is working closely with foreign embassies in Korea to contact the families of the deceased foreign nationals and help them travel to Korea.
The embassies in Korea are trying to help those looking for the missing loved ones and help the victims' families.
The U.S. Embassy in Seoul announced on its website and wrote on its social media Sunday, “Our staff in Seoul and colleagues in the U.S. are working tirelessly to provide consular assistance to the victims of last night's incident and their families. The Embassy is working closely with local authorities and other partner organizations to assist U.S. citizens affected.” Other foreign embassies, including France and U.K., said they are closely watching the situation and announced they will be assisting those in need.
Korean American Keith Yi puts up pictures upon the requests of the victims' friends via social media at a memorial space in Itaewon, Monday. The pictures are of two American victims of Saturday's crowd crush in Itaewon. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Meanwhile, Keith Yi, a Seoul-based Korean American and an adjunct professor at Inha University's Graduate School of Education, posted pictures of the two American victims at the memorial site at Itaewon Station and left a white flower of condolence.
Although he did not know the victims, Yi said he was heartbroken by the deaths of two young students as a father of people their age. Some friends of the deceased requested on an online community of foreigners in Korea to place their pictures in memory and he volunteered, thinking of the parents who would be in great shock.
“Itaewon has been a very special place. It's a multicultural, cosmopolitan venue that attracts a lot of foreigners … I feel great sadness that this has happened,” Yi said.