"Condition is serious"... 11 reports of 'crushing' already made before Itaewon disaster

Police officer: This is emergency call 112. Hello?

Caller: Yes, this is XX-dong, Itaewon, right now. It feels like people are about to be crushed here.

Police officer: You’re saying there are too many people?

Caller: It feels like people are going to be crushed. It’s during a festival.

Police officer: Yes, yes.

Caller: Ah, over there, ah, what do you call it, it’s the Halloween festival, but the situation is serious. Inside, kids are getting crushed.

(Omitted)

Police officer: So, where exactly is the location? Where? Please tell me the business name. If it’s a store name.

Caller: It’s not a business name, the whole street here is like this right now.

On the morning of the 30th, 119 rescue team members who were dispatched are rescuing and sorting the victims. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] This is the content of a 112 emergency call received by the police at 9:10 p.m., one hour before the Itaewon disaster occurred on the 29th of last month. The caller repeatedly warned of the possibility of people being crushed, but it was confirmed on the 1st that the police ultimately closed the case without even visiting the scene. A National Police Agency official disclosed the details of the calls made on the day of the disaster, including the reports of crushing, during a press briefing held at the National Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul that afternoon.

According to the police, from around 6 p.m. on the day of the disaster, as many as 11 calls reporting "It’s so chilling," and "People are about to be crushed" were received through 112. Among these, it was confirmed that the police dispatched officers to the scene for only 4 calls. Even these responses were made more than an hour before the large-scale crushing accident occurred at 10:15 p.m., and after that, no measures other than phone consultations were taken.

According to the police 112 call manual, repeated calls from the same phone number or repeated calls from the same location require police officers to be dispatched to the scene to verify and respond directly. A National Police Agency official said, "When citizens report, the 112 situation room at the provincial police agency receives the call and then dispatches the nearest local police station officers or detectives," adding, "It is necessary to check how the situation was actually handled on site." The official also said regarding the four dispatched calls, "It falls within the scope of the internal investigation to determine on what basis the seriousness was judged and the case was closed."

The police said that among the 11 calls in which the caller directly used the term "crushing," most were classified as Code 2. Code 2 refers to situations where there is a potential risk to life or body or where crime prevention is necessary. In other words, it indicates a "non-emergency situation." This can be interpreted as evidence that the police failed to recognize the seriousness of the situation despite repeated reports from citizens, regardless of whether they dispatched officers to the scene.

The police stated that it has not been confirmed whether any of the 11 callers were included in the list of fatalities from this disaster. When asked about future investigation plans, they answered, "Not yet."

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