Tears, anger as South Korean mother and father bury stampede victims By Reuters

By Ju-min Park, Heekyong Yang and Jihoon Lee

SEOUL (Reuters) -“Dad, I am going out” have been the final phrases Jung Hae-moon heard his daughter utter, on the finish of a chat that they had on the phone on Saturday as she turned down an invite to dinner.

Hours later, 30-year-old Jung Joo-hee was amongst 156 individuals, most of them of their teenagers and twenties, killed within the South Korean capital whereas celebrating Halloween freed from COVID restrictions for the primary time in three years.

On Thursday, the younger lady’s household buried her ashes in a peaceable household plot exterior Seoul, with a planted sapling and bouquets by her grave stone and a sombre ceremony of prayers and tears.

“Relaxation effectively. Mum and pa will come see you,” Jung Hae-moon stated because the household stood by, collectively together with his daughter’s pet poodle.

As information of the catastrophe unfolded on Saturday, Jung Hae-moon dashed to Itaewon, a district of slender streets filled with bars and boutiques, to be met with chaos as distraught children milled about of their Halloween costumes and rows of ambulances collected victims.

Greater than 12 hours later, he discovered Joo-hee in a morgue, lifeless, swollen and bruised.

Joo-hee’s mom, Lee Hyo-sook, stated her daughter was a delight, a greatest buddy who beloved animals and wine.

“The area she leaves is just too large. The place she left within the household is an excessive amount of, the vacancy,” Lee advised Reuters after the funeral, talking at a restaurant that Joo-hee ran.

The cafe is closed with an indication in black studying: “In mourning.”

The anguish of Joo-hee’s household is being felt by all the 156 bereaved households as a conventional three-day wake involves an finish and their beloved one is positioned in a coffin to be considered for the final time earlier than burial or cremation.

Their grief is being shared by the nation as an entire struggling to come back to phrases with the catastrophe that ended so many younger lives on what ought to have been a night of enjoyable.

Of the 156 lifeless, 101 have been feminine, the federal government stated.

One other grieving father, Track Jae-woong, stated his daughter, Younger-ju, 24, was a mild soul who was fast to befriend classmates, greater than 200 of whom got here to her funeral.

Younger-ju had dreamed of changing into an actress, her father stated, talking at a funeral residence in Seoul.

“Then, issues turned out like this,” Track stated.

“Her mates advised me that my daughter had a behavior of searching for out and befriending anybody. She had a form soul.”

“It’s throughout now.”

‘IMPOSSIBLE’

Some households had no concept their youngsters have been even within the crowd within the Itaewon leisure district on Saturday night.

“I had no concept she was there. It was unimaginable, I could not consider it,” Lim’s father stated at a funeral residence as he and his household noticed funeral rites.

The daddy requested that he and his daughter be recognized by simply their household title, Lim.

The person often lives overseas and had not seen their solely baby for 3 years as COVID disrupted journey. He first heard of the catastrophe when an acquaintance despatched him a textual content message about it, with neither figuring out the daughter was caught up in it.

Fighting grief, he pulled out his phone to point out the message.

“She was so artistic and fairly,” the person stated, including that he had usually strolled together with his daughter by means of Itaewon. He used to park their automotive on the Hamilton Lodge subsequent to the alley the place Lim died.

“I do know that avenue very effectively.”

For a lot of mother and father, anger is seething with the grief.

They marvel why their youngsters have been celebrating Halloween within the first place, a completely international idea for older Koreans.

However the greatest query for a lot of of these mourning their youngsters is why no security measures have been enforced to regulate the gang.

“I’m past indignant. It’s outrageous as a result of in any emergency scenario, the nation ought to defend its individuals and hold them secure,” stated Lee, the mom of Joo-hee.