Actually, the city of Seoul has a real-time crowd control system. However, the mass panic in the Itaewon district could not be prevented. The police chief is said to have had tips, but this information was “insufficiently” dealt with.
After the stampede in the South Korean capital of Seoul that left more than 150 dead, the country’s police chief admitted to making major mistakes. Police chief Yoon Hee Keun said the police heard from a “large crowd” at Halloween celebrations in the Itaewon district, which is popular for its nightlife, before the accident. However, this information was “insufficiently” dealt with.
On Saturday evening, at least 156 mostly young people died and several others were injured at the first Halloween celebrations in Itaewon since the beginning of the corona pandemic. Around 100,000 people were out and about in the area. However, since the celebrations were not officially announced, the gathering was not systematically monitored by security experts, neither the police nor local authorities.
Strict rules actually apply to the safety management of crowds in South Korea. This means, among other things, that there are often more police officers than protesters present at demonstrations. According to their own statements, the police had sent 137 officers to Itaewon for Halloween. However, according to media reports, 6,500 officials were present at a demonstration at the other end of Seoul, in which only about 25,000 people took part.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government has a real-time crowd monitoring system that uses cellphone data to predict the size of crowds. However, according to media reports, it was not in use on Saturday evening. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said the country urgently needs to improve its post-disaster crowd management system. “People’s safety is important, regardless of whether there is an organizer or not,” he said at a cabinet meeting.