South Korea celebration district mourns one yr after 159 killed in Halloween crowd crush
The South Korean capital’s nightlife district fell quiet on Saturday as a whole lot mourned for the 159 individuals killed throughout a Halloween crowd crush one yr in the past.
Few individuals clad in Halloween costumes have been seen on Saturday in Seoul’s standard Itaewon neighbourhood, the positioning of last year’s deadly surge.
The partitions of the sloped alley the place many died have been plastered with post-it notes and condolence messages that learn “we won’t forget you” or “we’ll remember you”.
Restaurants, bars, amusement parks and outlets, in the meantime, are avoiding Halloween-themed occasions as an indication of respect for the victims.
Lee Sung-min, who lives and works within the district, mentioned he didn’t even realise it was the Halloween weekend till early on Saturday.
“It used to be filled with visitors dressed in costumes and blood makeup by this time,” he mentioned.
“But if you look at the age range of the people walking around, it’s mostly just relatively old local residents.”
While gatherings haven’t been banned in Itaewon over Halloween, police have been conducting crowd-control drills with an AI-backed community of practically 1,000 CCTV cameras.
Many in Seoul blamed final yr’s catastrophe on an absence of preparation and crowd management measures, with early requires assist going unanswered.
Most who died have been aged of their 20s and 30s.
Scores of individuals have been killed throughout a crowd crush within the Itaewon space of Seoul
Many individuals have been nonetheless searching for different locations to affix Halloween festivities, similar to Hongdae, one other standard spot.
“I thought Hongdae would be better than Itaewon to celebrate Halloween with my boyfriend,” mentioned Cheon Ye-ji, 19.
“It looks like the crowd is better controlled after last year’s incident.”
Last yr’s tragedy prompted a police investigation that resulted in an acknowledgement of negligence and a poor response by the authorities, referring 23 officers for prosecution.
No senior authorities officers have resigned or been eliminated over the catastrophe and many of the 23 officers are nonetheless on trial.
Read extra:
How did Seoul Halloween celebration turn into a deadly crush?
Witnesses describe ‘slow and agonising’ horror as crowd ‘just couldn’t breathe’
Families of the victims and their supporters have demanded President Yoon Suk Yeol supply a extra honest apology and settle for an intensive, unbiased investigation.
“The attitude by the government and the ruling party is inflicting deeper and more painful scars on [us],” the households mentioned in a joint assertion.
“We just want to know the fundamental reasons why on 29 October 2022, thousands of people fell, 159 of them died and thousands of others were injured or ended up living with trauma.”