South Korea’s lethal Halloween crush was avoidable, specialists say By Reuters

By Joyce Lee

SEOUL (Reuters) – Correct crowd and visitors management by South Korean authorities may have prevented or no less than lowered the surge of Halloween party-goers in alleys that led to a crush and the deaths of 154 folks, security specialists stated on Monday.

The annual festivities within the in style nightlife space of Itaewon in Seoul additionally didn’t have a central organising entity, which meant authorities authorities weren’t required to determine or implement security protocols.

District authorities for Yongsan, the place Itaewon is situated, mentioned measures to stop unlawful drug use and the unfold of COVID-19 through the Halloween weekend, in response to a district press launch. There was, nonetheless, no point out of crowd management.

On Saturday when the tragedy occurred, roughly 100,000 folks have been estimated to be in Itaewon, an space recognized for its hills and slender alleys. Based on Seoul Metro, some 81,573 folks disembarked at Itaewon subway station on the day, up from round 23,800 every week earlier and about 35,950 on Friday.

However there have been solely 137 law enforcement officials in Itaewon on the time, the town of Seoul stated.

In distinction, at rallies by labour unions and by supporters of President Yoon Suk-yeol that drew tens of hundreds in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, on the identical Saturday, as much as 4,000 police have been deployed, a police official stated.

“Police are actually engaged on an intensive evaluation of the incident’s trigger,” Minister of the Inside and Security Lee Sang-min stated on Monday.

“It isn’t acceptable to make hasty conclusions earlier than the precise trigger is decided – whether or not it was attributable to a scarcity of police or whether or not there’s something that we must always basically change for rallies and gatherings.”

President Yoon has referred to as for an intensive investigation into the reason for the crush in addition to enhancements in security measures that can be utilized for giant gatherings the place there isn’t a set organiser.

Whereas South Korea has a security handbook for festivals anticipated to draw greater than 1,000 folks, the handbook presupposes an organising physique answerable for security planning and requesting authorities assets.

Simply two weeks earlier, the Itaewon World Village Pageant organised by a tourism affiliation and sponsored by the town of Seoul and Yongsan district, had folks carrying yellow vests directing the move of motion and the principle street was closed to automotive visitors.

However on Saturday, there have been simply hundreds of retailers open for enterprise, regular automotive visitors guidelines and tens of hundreds of younger folks desperate to have fun Halloween with out main COVID restrictions for the primary time because the pandemic.

“Simply because it isn’t named a ‘pageant’ doesn’t suggest there must be any distinction by way of catastrophe administration,” stated Paek Seung-joo, a professor of fireside & catastrophe safety at Open Cyber College of Korea.

“As there was no central authority, every authorities arm simply did what they often do – the fireplace division ready for fires and the police ready for crime. There must be a system the place an area authorities takes the reins and cooperates with different authorities to organize for the worst,” he stated.

Moon Hyeon-cheol, a professor on the Graduate College of Catastrophe Security Administration at Soongsil College, stated this kind of crush had the potential to occur in any populous metropolis.

“We have to take this tragedy and study to organize for the danger of catastrophe,” he stated.