About 10% of 2022 crowd crush deaths possibly caused by reasons besides suffocation: committee

Bereaved families who lost loved ones in the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush hold a press conference in front of the Cheong Wa Dae Fountain in central Seoul, March 26, calling for a thorough investigation into allegations raised during the parliamentary hearing on the tragedy. Korea Times photo by Park Ji-yeon

About 10 percent of the 159 people killed in the 2022 deadly crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood may have died from causes other than suffocation, a special investigation committee said Tuesday.

The analysis, released by the committee investigating the 2022 crowd crush, suggests that more lives could have been saved had more active rescue efforts been made immediately after the accident.

The accident dates back to Oct. 29, 2022, when people caught in surging crowds were crushed to death during Halloween festivities in the area.

After conducting a medical review of the causes of the deaths, the committee announced Tuesday that 15 of the victims did not appear to have died from suffocation, concluding that their exact causes of death could not be identified.

The review results suggested that the 15 victims may have died from intra-abdominal bleeding or other issues caused by pressures on muscles or internal organs.

Kim Moon-young, a forensic pathologist who presented the findings, said that while suffocation often causes immediate death, victims who died from other causes could have survived for several hours or even days had more active rescue efforts been made.

"The findings provide important evidence that rescue efforts should be carried out proactively even if the initial rescue response is delayed," she said.

The findings, however, were based on external examinations rather than autopsies, Kim said, citing the inherent difficulties in determining the exact causes and timings of the victims' deaths.