The Halloween Stampede, which occurred on October 29, 2017, in the Seoul neighbourhood of Itaewon and resulted in 159 fatalities, was attributed by the South Korean Police on Friday (January 13) on carelessness and poor planning.
According to a report by the news agency AFP, a special inquiry team, which spent months examining the material and speaking with officials, found that there were significant preparation and response failures.
‘Organisations that are legally required to prevent and respond to disasters – police, district offices, and Seoul Metro, failed in establishing safety measures in advance or come up with sufficient plans,’ Sohn Je-hanm, who oversaw the probe, said in a statement to reporters on Friday. Je-hanm claimed that even after receiving rescue requests on the disaster day, the proper actions were not taken.
The police official added that poor cooperation between agencies and a delay in communications and relief efforts contributed to a higher number of deaths in the stampede, according to the report.
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