[Itaewon Disaster] No Police Control Despite Signs of 112 Call Surge

Reports of traffic inconvenience, congestion, and noise continue
Over 100,000 visitors but only about 130 police officers
Damage worsens amid uncontrolled situation

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Jang Se-hee, Gong Byung-sun, Oh Gyu-min] The number of 112 emergency calls surged starting from the 28th, one day before the Itaewon tragedy occurred. Especially from 1 a.m. on the 29th, reports such as "people are blocking the road," "there are so many people on the street that vehicles cannot pass," and "someone grabbed my collar because I didn’t move out of the way" were continuously received.

According to a compilation of our investigation on the 31st, 137 emergency calls were received by the Yongsan Police Station in Seoul on the 28th alone, which is 77 more than the previous Friday (October 21). Nearby merchants also said that there was a large crowd at the time of the accident, causing confusion.

Yoon (55), who sells leather products in Itaewon, said, "Usually, Saturday has the most people if you take four days off from Friday to Monday," adding, "I heard that the fire department and police had a prior meeting, but it seems more people showed up than expected."

Park Hae-il (50), who has operated a tailor shop in Itaewon for over 30 years, said, "On Friday, a serious crowd had already blocked the entrances of nearby shops, so I think they should have expected a certain level of crowd the next day." He added, "There were more people than at the Itaewon Global Village Festival two weeks ago," and "On Saturdays, since there’s nothing much to do on the main street, people gather in the back alleys where clubs are located."

There were sufficient warning signs such as traffic inconvenience, difficulty in passage, disturbances, and noise complaints. However, the police judged that these were no different from usual reports. At the time of the tragedy, only 137 police officers were deployed at the scene, of whom 58 were in plain clothes. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency released annual personnel data in a briefing the day before, stating, "The claim that police manpower was insufficient at the time is not true."

According to the data, between 2017 and 2019, 39 to 90 officers were deployed, but this year 137 officers were assigned. However, the deployment did not take into account that this was the first Halloween event in three years without COVID-19 related restrictions. The police were so focused on cracking down on illegal filming, sexual harassment, drugs, and theft that safety accidents and order maintenance were neglected.

Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min said at a briefing on the 30th, "Compared to before, it was not a particularly concerningly large crowd," and "Unlike usual, the issue was not something that could have been resolved by pre-deploying police or fire personnel, as far as we understand now."

On the 30th, ahead of Halloween, a massive crush disaster occurred in the Itaewon area. Police forces are controlling the scene and moving busily in the Itaewon area of Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

"Police should have reduced local density"... Uncontrolled situation worsened damage

Experts analyzed that when a disaster occurs with no control at the scene, the damage can become even greater.

Professor Moon Hyun-chul of the Department of Disaster Safety Management at Soongsil University said, "As people were pushed on a slope, their center of gravity shifted forward," and "Even though people shouted not to push, the loud music prevented the dangerous atmosphere from spreading to the back." He added, "It is regrettable that despite warning signs such as increased reports from Friday, passage management was not implemented. They should have also considered in advance whether crowd control was actually possible in the frenzy."

Professor Lee Woong-hyuk of the Department of Police Science at Konkuk University said, "There are always clear warning signs before a major disaster occurs," and "Once reports keep coming in, order should have been controlled to reduce local density. No one managed the crowd, and the narrow alleys worsened the accident," he analyzed.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that it has established an investigation headquarters to determine the cause of the accident and responsibility, but even within the police, opinions suggest that it will be difficult to clearly identify responsibility related to this Itaewon tragedy.

This Halloween festival had no organizer and was a voluntary gathering of citizens. For festivals with a clear organizer and more than 1,000 participants, a ‘safety management plan’ must be established. When there is no organizer, they are free from responsibility, making safety issues vulnerable. If an incident had occurred inside a building, the building owner or manager could be held responsible, but this incident happened in a narrow alley.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.