Seoul: Stampede Survivor Criticizes Authorities | STERN.de

More than 150 dead
Tourist survives stampede in South Korea – which he now accuses the authorities of

A police officer stands in front of the street in the Itaewon nightlife district in Seoul, where the mass panic broke out

© Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images

The Halloween panic in a party district in Seoul claimed more than 150 lives. A surviving Australian tourist who lost a friend blames the government for the disaster. And South Korea’s police chief also admits mistakes.

A 24-year-old Australian was one of the party-goers who wanted to celebrate Halloween with his friends in South Korea’s Itaewon nightlife district on Saturday. But the evening ended in disaster. More than 150 mostly young people were victims of a mass panic.

Three days later, Nathan Taverniti is still in shock, he tells the Associated Press. One of his friends died that evening. Two others are struggling to survive in the hospital.

Stampede in Seoul kills 156

An estimated 100,000 people flocked to Itaewon in Seoul over the weekend for the Halloween celebrations. The disaster happened in a narrow downhill alley that runs between a dense row of clubs and bars. The path was clogged by a huge and unstoppable wave of partygoers before some of them fell on top of each other like dominoes and suffocated, according to witnesses.

According to the Interior Ministry, 156 people died in the accident. Two people have died from their injuries since Monday night. According to the updated figures, 151 injured were recorded. Of them, 29 are in critical condition. Among the fatalities were 26 foreigners from different countries.

Tourist blames authorities for mass panic

Taverniti blames the failure of the authorities for the enormous loss of life. They would not have effectively controlled the crowd, although they had expected a large crowd at the Halloween celebrations.

He saw his friends’ hands among the people who were piling up. He tried to grab her but had to let go after being crushed under the enormous weight of the other people who lost their balance. “A lot of people screamed.”

Taverniti said he yelled at bars and clubs to open their doors and let a few people in to calm the crowds, but no one listened to him. Several police officers arrived about half an hour later and helped people in the crowd pull the injured out before more officers later arrived.

“If the government knows that there will be so many people and there will be road closures, there should already be enough police and emergency services,” Taverniti said. He himself had no idea that something terrible was about to happen until some women around him apparently slipped and fell and people nearby tried to help them get back on their feet. At this point, he could no longer see where his three friends were. “All of a sudden, more people started falling…there were just too many people,” he said, adding, “I am 100 percent convinced that this incident was due to government mismanagement and lack of skill because I know Halloween has always been so big in Itaewon,” he said. “There was clearly not enough police presence this year.”

South Korea’s police chief, who has now admitted that his agency made obvious mistakes, shares this view. In the hours leading up to Saturday night’s tragedy, several emergency calls were received indicating potential dangers, National Police Agency chief Yoon Hee Keun said on Tuesday. But the answer to that was “insufficient”: “I feel a heavy responsibility as head of one of the responsible authorities.”



More than 150 dead: Tourist survives mass panic in South Korea – which he now accuses the authorities of

Yoon did not say whether, from his point of view, the catastrophe could have been prevented by early police measures. But he wanted to make sure that what went wrong was thoroughly investigated. An independent investigative body will also be created within the police authority.

Sources: Associated Pressdpa

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