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| Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min lowers his head as he apologizes over the deadly Itaewon crowd crush, at a parliamentary session in the National Assembly, Seoul, Tuesday. Newsis |
Emergency calls for crowd management were ignored
By Jung Min-ho
Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min apologized on Tuesday over last week's crowd crush, which took the lives of more than 150 people in Itaewon, a popular nightlife district in Seoul.
"I deeply apologize to the people as a Cabinet member in a position to be infinitely responsible for the people's safety," Lee said at a parliamentary session. "First of all, I pray for those who died. I also offer my deep condolences to the bereaved families … As the father of a son and a daughter, this incident is so tragic and regrettable. It is difficult for me to accept this surreal reality and my words cannot describe how terrible it was."
The apology comes amid growing criticism over his previous remarks suggesting that he was not responsible for the Oct. 28 incident, which killed at least 156 people and injured 151 others, mostly in their 20s, during their first restriction-free Halloween parties there since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Yet Lee did not apologize in response to the specific criticism that an insufficient number of police officers in the area was attributable to the incident. He said it was his fault that he did not consider the broken hearts of the bereaved families when making the remarks.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon also issued an apology, vowing to come up with better safety policies.
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| Yoon Hee-keun, head of the National Police Agency, lowers his head as he apologizes for the police's belated response to the fatal Itaewon crowd crush, at its headquarters in central Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap |
Earlier on Tuesday, Yoon Hee-keun, head of the National Police Agency, also apologized. He said police failed to preemptively respond to emergency calls to control masses of partygoers in Itaewon before a crowd surge in a narrow alleyway suddenly turned deadly.
"We have confirmed that there was a surge of calls over the serious situation just before the incident," Yoon told reporters at its headquarters in central Seoul. "The urgent calls were about the dangers of a big crowd in the area."
According to Hwang Chang-sun, a senior police officer who attended a meeting by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters the same day, many people alerted police of the situation before the incident. But their calls were treated just as "reports of general inconvenience."
"I pray for the victims who died and offer my condolences to the bereaved families," Yoon said. "I hope for a speedy recovery of those injured. I feel great responsibility for the people shocked by the incident … I will try my best to prevent such a tragedy from happening again."
Apparently aware of growing criticism following the minister's insensitive remarks, Yoon said he ordered an internal investigation into those who responded to the emergency calls at Yongsan Police Station that night.
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| Police inspect the scene of a deadly crowd crush in Itaewon, a popular district for nightlife, central Seoul, Tuesday. AP-Yonhap |
Meanwhile, police are interviewing witnesses, who have claimed that a group of men, some of whom were wearing "rabbit hairbands," deliberately pushed people, which caused others near them to fall down like "dominoes." They claim the alleged perpetrators shouted, "Push, push!" and "We're stronger!" before fleeing the chaotic scene.
So far, police have questioned more than 40 witnesses and crush survivors while analyzing footage from 52 CCTV cameras installed near the scene and monitoring messages on social media, according to Nam Koo-joon, who leads a 475-member investigation team.
They are also looking into accusations that some owners and employees of stores beside the alleyway blocked their entrances to people fleeing the crushing crowd at the last moment.
Hamilton Hotel, situated right next to the alleyway, is another target of investigation. A document from the Yongsan District Office shows that it illegally extended its 17.4-square-meter terrace on its northern side of the main building, taking up space in an already narrow path. Last year, the district office had told the hotel to remove the terrace and later levied fines for failing to comply with the order.
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| President Yoon Suk-yeol, center, arrives to pay tribute to victims of a deadly crowd crush in Itaewon, a popular district for nightlife, in central Seoul, Tuesday. Newsis |
President Yoon Suk-yeol, who paid his respects to the crush victims at a temporary altar set up in Seoul Plaza Monday, did so once again Tuesday with his Cabinet members at an altar near Noksapyeong Station.
"My sadness and grief are beyond my control. I will do my best to prevent a tragedy like this from happening ever again," Yoon wrote in a condolence book.
