Seoul crowd crush shows gaps in Korean safety rules, experts say - The Washington Post

The oversight highlighted limitations successful the nation’s policies governing wide gatherings successful nationalist places, experts say. Although elaborate information protocols are required for authoritative events, specified arsenic festivals, the aforesaid catastrophe prevention methods bash not use to nationalist spaces wherever ample crowds are expected to stitchery informally, making information protocols ambiguous with nary wide bureau successful charge, they said.

The nonstop origin of the assemblage surge successful a constrictive alley — wherever truthful galore radical were jammed unneurotic that immoderate could not determination their limbs — is nether investigation. The calamity has prompted statement implicit the relation of nationalist and section agencies and who should beryllium held accountable.

“Even if determination is nary lawsuit organizer, if a ample fig of radical are expected to enactment arsenic they were for this event, it seems indispensable for applicable institutions to instrumentality preemptive measures to fortify their prevention efforts based on” the imaginable hazard for disaster, said Kim Dae-jin, prof successful information engineering and catastrophe mitigation studies astatine Woosuk University successful North Jeolla province.

The Halloween festivities successful Itaewon, Seoul’s foreigner-friendly territory fashionable among expats and younger Koreans, person grown progressively fashionable implicit the past decade. This twelvemonth was the archetypal Halloween since the commencement of the coronavirus pandemic that didn’t see societal distancing oregon outdoor masking restrictions, drafting adjacent much enthusiastic crowds.

It was not wide Sunday however galore radical turned retired connected Saturday night. Police did not expect Halloween crowds to beryllium importantly larger than successful erstwhile years and did not deploy further unit up of the celebrations, South Korea’s curate of interior and safety, Lee Sang-min, said astatine a briefing Sunday.

More than 200 constabulary officers were dispatched to the country throughout the play — astir 1 serviceman for each 500 radical estimated to person been determination Saturday nighttime — with a absorption connected targeting intersexual and carnal maltreatment and imaginable cause use.

On Saturday, constabulary forces were focused connected monitoring and controlling crowds astatine large-scale protests successful different areas of Seoul, Lee said. A dense constabulary beingness is communal astatine wide protests wherever unit whitethorn interruption out.

Korea’s nationalist constabulary unit has jurisdiction implicit Itaewon. The U.S. subject provides “courtesy patrols” for the area, which is adjacent a U.S. subject base, said Wes Hayes, spokesperson for U.S. Forces Korea. U.S. subject constabulary responded alongside Korean officers and assisted with archetypal assistance and assemblage control, Hayes said.

Seoul and nationalist constabulary officials person acceptable up an investigative squad to look into whether due information protocols were followed. Political leaders from some parties called connected constabulary to promptly place the origin of the accident, including imaginable issues with assemblage control, according to Yonhap News.

In 2021, the South Korean Ministry of Interior and Safety released a catastrophe and information absorption manual to assistance oversee protocols astatine ample events aft a reappraisal of erstwhile tragedies successful Korea and different countries. A 2017 authorities study, for instance, recovered insufficient information measures led to assemblage crushing oregon stampedes astatine much than a twelve concerts, festivals and sporting events. The study recommended strict requirements for events with much than 1,000 held astatine “multiuse facilities.”

“Massive nationalist gatherings by mean citizens whitethorn person been successful the government’s unsighted spot due to the fact that we person not had experiences with specified accidents successful the past,” said Jeong Ho-jo, catastrophe absorption adept and main enforcement of Safe School, a Seoul-based steadfast that provides information trainings passim the country.

“If work and authorization are ambiguous, determination is simply a precocious probability that nary 1 volition bash it,” Jeong said.

Jeong said South Korea’s catastrophe effect needs to leverage enactment from businesses successful the area, assemblage leaders and media outlets to rise awareness. In addition, Koreans successful their 20s person not been exposed regularly to information trainings connected however to behaviour themselves successful perchance unsafe situations, helium said.

Although existent students acquisition information grooming successful schoolhouse aft the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking that killed implicit 300, radical successful their 20s and 30s — similar truthful galore of the victims successful Itaewon — person been near to fend for themselves.

The crowds during the archetypal nighttime of Halloween celebrations connected Friday provided an ominous preview of the catastrophe the adjacent night. Video footage from the alley Friday nighttime showed that radical had packed tightly, though not arsenic overmuch arsenic connected Saturday. Earlier connected Saturday evening, immoderate radical who realized however crowded the country was becoming near early, according to witnesser accounts.

Many radical tried to flight the assemblage surge successful the alley by trying to participate clubs oregon different businesses on the street. But immoderate turned them away, according to witnesser accounts successful South Korean media.

The alley, connected a hill, filled up with radical Saturday night, according to quality reports — though it’s unclear precisely however agelong it took. It was truthful packed that erstwhile radical astatine the apical of the elevation fell, it created a cascade. Many radical toward the bottommost of the elevation chanted, “Stop pushing, halt pushing,” according to witnesses interviewed successful South Korean media.

“Accidents are not caused by a azygous cause, but should beryllium divided into argumentation causes, administrative causes, indirect causes, and nonstop causes,” Jeong said. “If adjacent 1 portion had worked properly, it would not person led to this disaster.”

Julia Mio Inuma successful Tokyo; Grace Moon, Kelly Kasulis Cho and Julie Yoon successful Seoul; and Samuel Oakford successful New York contributed to this report.