South Korea's deadly Halloween crush was avoidable, experts say - Reuters

SEOUL, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Proper assemblage and postulation power by South Korean authorities could person prevented oregon astatine slightest reduced the surge of Halloween party-goers successful alleys that led to a crush and the deaths of 154 people, information experts said connected Monday.

The yearly festivities successful the fashionable nightlife country of Itaewon successful Seoul besides did not person a cardinal organising entity, which meant authorities authorities were not required to found oregon enforce information protocols.

District authorities for Yongsan, wherever Itaewon is located, discussed measures to forestall amerciable cause usage and the dispersed of COVID-19 during the Halloween weekend, according to a territory property release. There was, however, nary notation of assemblage control.

On Saturday erstwhile the calamity occurred, astir 100,000 radical were estimated to beryllium successful Itaewon, an country known for its hills and constrictive alleys. According to Seoul Metro, immoderate 81,573 radical disembarked astatine Itaewon subway presumption connected the day, up from astir 23,800 a week earlier and astir 35,950 connected Friday.

But determination were lone 137 constabulary officers successful Itaewon astatine the time, the metropolis of Seoul said.

In contrast, astatine rallies by labour unions and by supporters of President Yoon Suk-yeol that drew tens of thousands successful Gwanghwamun, cardinal Seoul, connected the aforesaid Saturday, up to 4,000 constabulary were deployed, a constabulary authoritative said.

"Police are present moving connected a thorough investigation of the incident's cause," Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min said connected Monday.

"It's not due to marque hasty conclusions earlier the nonstop origin is determined - whether it was caused by a deficiency of constabulary oregon whether determination is thing that we should fundamentally alteration for rallies and gatherings."

President Yoon has called for a thorough probe into the origin of the crush arsenic good arsenic improvements successful information measures that tin beryllium utilized for ample gatherings wherever determination is nary acceptable organiser.

While South Korea has a information manual for festivals expected to pull much than 1,000 people, the manual presupposes an organising assemblage successful complaint of information readying and requesting authorities resources.

Just 2 weeks earlier, the Itaewon Global Village Festival organised by a tourism relation and sponsored by the metropolis of Seoul and Yongsan district, had radical wearing yellowish vests directing the travel of question and the main roadworthy was closed to car traffic.

But connected Saturday, determination were conscionable thousands of shops unfastened for business, mean car postulation rules and tens of thousands of young radical anxious to observe Halloween without large COVID restrictions for the archetypal clip since the pandemic.

"Just due to the fact that it's not named a 'festival' doesn't mean determination should beryllium immoderate quality successful presumption of catastrophe management," said Paek Seung-joo, a prof of occurrence & catastrophe extortion astatine Open Cyber University of Korea.

"As determination was nary cardinal authority, each authorities limb conscionable did what they usually bash - the occurrence section prepared for fires and the constabulary prepared for crime. There needs to beryllium a strategy wherever a section authorities takes the reins and cooperates with different authorities to hole for the worst," helium said.

Moon Hyeon-cheol, a prof astatine the Graduate School of Disaster Safety Management astatine Soongsil University, said this benignant of crush had the imaginable to hap successful immoderate populous city.

"We request to instrumentality this calamity and larn to hole for the hazard of disaster," helium said.

Reporting by Joyce Lee; Additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin and Soo-hyang Choi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs

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