On Oct 29, 2022, a Halloween event in South Korea's capital city Seoul turned fatal after 159 people were killed in a stampede due to crowding. A year later, families of the victims have demanded a special investigation into the tragedy.

On Oct 29, 2022, a Halloween event in South Korea's capital city Seoul turned fatal after 159 people were killed in a stampede due to crowding. A year later, families of the victims have demanded a special investigation into the tragedy. According to a report by the news agency Associated Press on Monday (Oct 30), the families visited the Itaewon area, laid flowers and offered condolences at an alley where the stampede occurred. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I couldn’t protect you. I loved you,” Song Jin Young, 55, the father of one of the victims, said. The report said that the families attended multi-faith prayer services in Itaweon for their loved ones. Families demand safety minister's resignation While attending the prayer services, the families chanted slogans asking South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to offer a more sincere apology and demanded the resignation of Safety Minister Lee Sang-min. Also read: Seoul night-life hotspot marks one year of deadly Halloween crush “Apologise! Apologise!” the families shouted before they arrived at a square in Seoul for a memorial service. In a speech, Lee Jeong-min, a representative for the families, urged President Yoon to support efforts to legislate a special law to open an independent investigation into the disaster. “We did our utmost to raise our children but we couldn’t even touch them when they vanished all of sudden. Where can we talk about our resentment toward this reality?” Lee said. Lee pointed out that the special law would be the most important legislation to find the cause of the stampede and also discuss the prevention of similar disasters. Several opposition leaders criticised Yoon for failing to attend the memorial service, which ended with the crowd shouting “We’ll remember you” when names of each of the 159 victims, mostly in their 20s and 30s, were called. Top-level officials not charged An invitation was given to the president to attend the ceremony, but he instead appeared at a service for the victims at a church in Seoul. Yoon's office did not mention his absence (from the memorial), but local media said it was because of concerns that the event could be politically used by his rivals. In January, a special probe by the police concluded that police and municipal officials had failed to formulate effective crowd control steps despite correctly anticipating a huge number of people in Itaewon. As per investigators, police also ignored hotline calls by pedestrians who warned of crowding before the stampede started. Currently, over 20 police and other officials are on trial. However, the report said that no top-level officials have been charged- which is one of the reasons why the victims' families have demanded a probe. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

2022 South Korea Halloween crush: A year after tragedy, victims' kin demand special probe

The South Korean Police on Friday (January 13) blamed negligence and planning failures for the Halloween stampede in the Itaewon neighbourhood of Seoul on October 29 last year that killed 159 people.

The South Korean Police on Friday (January 13) blamed negligence and planning failures for the Halloween stampede in the Itaewon neighbourhood of Seoul on October 29 last year that killed 159 people. A special investigation team, which spent months combing through evidence and interviewing officials, said there were massive planning and response failures, a report by the news agency AFP said. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Sohn Je-hanm who led the investigation, said, "Organisations that are legally obligated to prevent and respond to disasters -- police, district offices and Seoul Metro -- did not establish safety measures in advance or came up with poor plans." Je-hanm said that on the day of the disaster, appropriate measures were not taken even after receiving rescue requests. ALSO READ | Police officer facing investigation for Itaewon Halloween crush in South Korea found dead The poor cooperation between agencies and delay in communications and relief efforts contributed to a higher number of deaths in the stampede, according to the report. The investigation team named 23 people, including the head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, to prosecutors. On the other hand, six people have been arrested including Lee Im-jae, the former head of the Yongsan Police Station, which oversees Itaewon, and Park Hee-young, the head of the Yongsan district office. No top government officials blamed by special team, bereaved families criticise probe In its probe, the special investigation team of the South Korean Police did not blame officials from the Seoul city government, the interior ministry, or the national policy agency. Sohn Je-hanm said on Friday the reason for this was that it was "difficult to conclude that there was a concrete violation of duty", the AFP report said. Opposition lawmakers and bereaved families have criticised the police investigation for failing to hold top officials accountable for the tragedy. "We have so many questions unanswered," Lee Jong-chul, head of a group representing the bereaved families, told reporters as he arrived at a prosecutors' office in Seoul, a report by news agency Reuters on Friday said. Jong-chu said he came to the office to give a victim's statement, expecting a better and expanded probe. Following the October 29 tragedy, South Korea's Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min has faced calls to step down. Lee Sang-min has been widely criticised for claiming that having more personnel from the police and the fire department would not have prevented the stampede. The minister issued repeated apologies including in person to the victim's families last week, the AFP report said. However, he has not offered to step down from the top post. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

South Korea Halloween crowd crush: Cops blame negligence for fatal incident

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2022 South Korea Halloween crush: A year after tragedy, victims' kin demand special probe

South Korea Halloween crowd crush: Cops blame negligence for fatal incident