The police officer, who was a suspect in the investigation into the stampede that killed 156 people at the Halloween celebration in South Korea, was found dead at his home.
According to the news of South Korean agency Yonhap, a relative went to the police official’s house in the capital Seoul at 12:45 local time.
His relative found the lifeless body of the official, whose last name was Jeong.
Suspicion of suicide
Colleagues stated that Jeong sent them messages yesterday implying that he was going to commit suicide. An investigation has been launched into Jeong’s death.
Jeong, 55, was a suspect in the investigation opened after the stampede.
It was claimed that the domestic intelligence had a report that a serious accident could occur during the Halloween period before the stampede, and that Jeong ordered this report to be deleted to hide the lack of action on the issue.
Jeong was charged with abuse of power, destruction of evidence, and fatal professional negligence.
156 PEOPLE DEATH IN THE STRUCTURE
In the Itaewon district of central Seoul, on October 29, an estimated 100,000 people attended the Halloween celebration, when a large crowd suddenly filled the 4-meter-wide street.
In the stampede, 156 people lost their lives and dozens of people were injured, some of them in serious condition.
Korean authorities announced that the majority of those who lost their lives were in their 20s and 22 were foreign nationals.
NATIONAL MORNING HAS BEEN DECLARED
President Yoon Suk-yeol declared “national mourning”. Thousands of people in the country protested the government due to the stampede and demanded the resignation of those responsible.
The incident was the deadliest disaster in South Korea since 304 young people lost their lives when the ferry carrying high school students on a school trip in 2014 sank. (AA)