South Korea Crowd Crush: Why Did Investigators Raid Police Stations After Seoul Halloween Stampede?

After a tragic mass stampede in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday that killed 156 people during Halloween festivities, investigators raided several police stations as part of their probe.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency revealed the news as investigators went to eight of their officers and took internal reports and documents that related to reports made by members of the public to the 112 emergency hotline.

Itaewon Crowd Crush Investigation

Part of the raid was the Yongsan district police station which was responsible for overseeing the nightlife neighborhood of Itaewon, where the tragic incident took place. The probe comes as South Korean officials face criticism and frustration from their citizens.

Witnesses have argued that there was little to no crowd control during the Itaewon stampede despite police receiving several warnings beforehand. The deadly crowd crush on Saturday happened in a section of narrow alleyways.

Witnesses described how they were unable to move or breathe within the crowd as more and more people gathered in a street that was no more than four meters wide. Since then, it was revealed that members of the public had already reported to police to warn of overcrowding hours before the first deaths were even reported, as per CNN.

The raids on Wednesday following the stampede were carried out by a special investigative unit that was created on the day prior by the National Police Agency (NPA) to look into the incident. Officials from the agency said that they suspended the chief of the Yongsan police station amid the investigation.

The NPA released a statement saying that Chief Lee Im-jae cannot carry out his normal duties given the situation. Authorities added that the successor of the police chief would be announced later that day.

According to Aljazeera, despite receiving 11 reports prior to the deaths of the stampede, police responded to only four by deploying officers to the sites to disperse crowds. After they were dispersed, the law enforcement personnel returned to other duties and took no action in the case of the seven other emergency calls.

South Korean Officers Raid Police Stations

The Yonhap News Agency reported that a "Code 0" police order that called for the promptest possible response had been issued for one of the 11 reports. Meanwhile, the second-highest, "Code 1," was applied to seven other reports. However, police officers still failed to take appropriate action.

Transcripts of the emergency calls revealed warnings regarding the unfolding situation in the alley in the Itaewon area. Most of the victims of the incident were young revelers who fell and piled up on each other. More than 150 others were injured in the stampede, including 29 who are still in serious condition.

One woman who made the first report on October 29 said that she felt so chilling in the midst of the crowd in Itaewon. She also described a chaotic scene on the narrow streets of the Seoul nightlife district.

Ms. Park, an Itaewon shopkeeper, described people getting off at the Itaewon subway station and coming up the narrow alley while mixing with people who were trying to leave the area as well as others slinging up to enter clubs, BBC reported.