South Korea steps up monitoring in crowded subways after Halloween crush By Reuters

By Soo-hyang Choi

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea is beefing up monitoring at crowded subway stations following a lethal Halloween crush that killed greater than 150 individuals in Seoul, officers mentioned on Friday.

The annual festivities within the in style nightlife space of Itaewon turned lethal on Saturday evening after tens of 1000’s of younger revellers crowded into slim streets and alleyways. It was the primary Halloween occasion in three years nearly freed from COVID-19 restrictions.

“Related high-risk conditions might be created at subway rush hour,” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo mentioned, urging police to correctly reply to stop accidents as a consequence of overcrowding.

Beginning on Friday, police shall be deployed to subway stations within the capital to hitch metro officers in crowd management actions, the prime minister mentioned.

Nationwide Police Commissioner Common Yoon Hee-keun on Tuesday acknowledged crowd management on the web site of the catastrophe was “insufficient,” noting police had obtained a number of reviews warning of potential accidents on the evening of the surge.

Correct crowd and site visitors management by the authorities might have prevented or not less than diminished the surge of Halloween partygoers in alleys, specialists mentioned.

With per week of nationwide mourning set to finish on Saturday, a civic group which has been holding weekly rallies in opposition to the Yoon Suk-yeol administration will stage a candlelight vigil on Saturday night to mourn the victims, the organizer mentioned.

The catastrophe killed 156 and injured 187, leaving 33 in severe situation. At the least 26 residents from 14 international locations had been among the many lifeless.