South Korean cops blame ‘misjudgment’ for 2022 Halloween Stampede

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Bereaved families and opposition MPs criticized the police investigation.

Seoul:

South Korean police said on Friday a lack of preparation and an inadequate response were the main causes of the deadly Halloween crash in Seoul last year, concluding a month-long investigation into the tragedy that killed 159 people.

The annual festivities in the popular nightlife district of Itaewon turned deadly on October 29 after tens of thousands of young revelers packed into narrow alleys to celebrate the first curb-free COVID Halloween in three years.

Authorities, including police, failed to devise safety measures even though dense crowds made a crash likely, and failed to take appropriate action after cries for help started coming in, Sohn said. Je-han, who led the investigation.

“The misjudgment of the situation, the delay in sharing information and the lack of cooperation between relevant agencies have accumulated to cause many casualties,” Sohn told reporters.

The investigation team referred 23 people, including the head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, to prosecutors.

Bereaved families and opposition lawmakers criticized the police investigation for failing to hold senior officials accountable.

“We have so many unanswered questions,” Lee Jong-chul, leader of a group representing bereaved families, told reporters upon arriving at the prosecutor’s office in Seoul. “We came here to make a victim impact statement, expecting a better and broader investigation.”

(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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