More than 150 people died and many more were injured in a stampede in Seoul on Saturday. President Yoon Suk Yeol is now inaugurating a memorial for the victims. Meanwhile, criticism of the police is growing. She would have taken inadequate security precautions.
President Yoon Suk Yeol inaugurated a memorial for the victims after the stampede in the South Korean capital Seoul that killed more than 150 people. Yoon and his wife each laid a white flower in front of a large altar erected in central Seoul to honor the victims.
The memorial was then opened to the public. Some mourners gathered in tears at the memorial. Another makeshift memorial was erected in front of a subway station in the Itaewon district of the South Korean capital, which is popular for its nightlife and where the deadly stampede happened.
Around 100,000 mostly young people had gathered in the narrow streets of Itaewon for Halloween celebrations. A stampede ensued, killing more than 150 people and injuring scores more. According to the authorities, at least 33 injured people are in mortal danger.
Meanwhile, criticism has been leveled at the authorities that lax controls caused the tragedy. On the Internet, people accused the police of inadequate security measures. Police said they had set up a working group to investigate the cause of the deadly stampede. She confiscated surveillance camera footage from shops near the scene of the accident and interviewed witnesses.
The police also said that 137 officers were deployed in Itaewon. It was significantly more than at the Halloween celebrations in previous years. According to local media, however, most of the officers were deployed primarily to prevent the revelers from using drugs, rather than crowd control. The authorities admitted, however, that they had not expected that there could be “so many victims” due to the large number of people.
A week-long national mourning began in South Korea over the tragedy. Events and concerts have been canceled and flags should be flown at half-mast across the country.