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After mass panic: Thousands remember the victims in Seoul
People chant during a church service in Seoul to mark the first anniversary of the deadly mass panic that claimed many lives. photo
© Ahn Young-joon/AP
The deadly mass crush a year ago caused horror in South Korea’s capital. Affected families in particular are demanding a thorough investigation into the tragedy.
One year after the deadly mass panic in Seoul, thousands of people commemorated the 159 deaths at a large rally in the South Korean capital. On Sunday, the participants also called for more intensive investigations into this Accident on October 29, 2022 during unorganized Halloween celebrations in the Itaewon entertainment district. Many held smaller signs that read: “Find out the truth.”
On the eve of the first anniversary, Halloween celebrations in Itaewon were largely canceled on Saturday. Only a few visitors could be seen in costumes. In the years before the corona pandemic, the annual Halloween festival had developed into one of the largest public celebrations in South Korea’s capital, with many young people traveling from abroad.
White chrysanthemums as a sign of mourning
The memorial event on Sunday, which was also a rally, took place on the town hall square in the center of the metropolis of ten million people. Many families of the victims also took part. Organizations had already set up a memorial altar with photos of the victims in the square in February. Many rally participants placed white chrysanthemums there as a sign of mourning.
Previously, numerous people had followed a march from the scene of the accident to the town hall. According to reports from the national news agency Yonhap, around 10,000 people gathered in the square.
The nighttime catastrophe caused great horror in the country. In the dense crowd on a narrow, sloping side street, numerous people fell, suffocated, were crushed or trampled to death. A special police team later said a variety of failures, including a lack of security measures and delayed rescue efforts, contributed to the high number of victims. For the victims’ families and their supporters, the investigation did not go far enough. The question of guilt is still unclear.
Special law on tragedy
Left-liberal opposition leader Lee Jae Myung promised in a speech on City Hall Square that his party would work for the rapid adoption of a special law on the tragedy. A draft that is currently in parliament provides, among other things, for the formation of an independent investigative commission. According to experts, results could only be expected after about a year and a half.
The police and the city of Seoul had announced that this time they would better prepare for possible crowds during the Halloween season in Itaewon and other districts. In Itaewon, scores of police and other supervisory personnel were deployed over the weekend to monitor the main entertainment street with its many nightclubs, restaurants and bars. Mobile barriers were erected along the middle of the street to better direct the flow of visitors. As South Korean media reported, there were significantly fewer visitors in Itaewon in particular than last year. Halloween is always on October 31st.