unsaveSave
expand-left
full screen In the deadly tragedy in Itaewon in the South Korean capital of Seoul last year, more than 150 people died. Archive image. Photo: Lee Jin-Man/AP/TT
The police chief of South Korea’s capital, Seoul, has been charged with neglect of duty after the disaster in which more than 150 people lost their lives when chaos broke out in narrow streets during a Halloween celebration.
About a hundred thousand people had gathered in Seoul’s Itaewon entertainment district to celebrate Halloween on October 29, 2022, the first post-pandemic public event in the country, when the disaster struck. People began to rush in different directions and the crowd crowded into narrow alleys with no way to escape the pressure.
According to a statement from the prosecutor’s office, police chief Kim Kwang-ho did not take necessary security measures, such as deploying enough police resources on the day in question. The prosecutors add that the risk of the disaster should have been foreseen.
Legal proceedings are ongoing simultaneously against two local police chiefs who were indicted last year.