South Korea promises thorough investigation into deadly Halloween crush

This article is more than 12 months old

Oct 31, 2022 09:21 am

SEOUL – South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo promised on Monday a thorough investigation into the Halloween crush over the weekend that killed 153 people, adding the government would then make necessary changes to prevent such an accident from happening again.

Mr Han made the remarks during the opening part of a meeting that was broadcast live.

In a news briefing on Sunday, officials, including Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon vowed to do everything they could to make South Korea safer.

But they offered little explanation for the lack of crowd control, what went wrong in the Itaewon alley and why the country has had recurring disasters.

Also on Sunday, the home minister, Mr Lee Sang-min, admitted that police were underprepared.

“The crowd this year was not worrisomely bigger, compared with past years,” he told reporters. “But our police forces were scattered to various protests across the city.” - REUTERS