SEOUL– A special police investigation team raided the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, the Yongsan Police Station and six other offices Wednesday as part of an investigation into the bungled police response to the deadly Itaewon crowd crush.
The raids came a day after the National Police Agency admitted 11 emergency calls urgently alerting overcrowding in Itaewon started coming in four hours before the deadly crush, but little action was taken.
The eight locations raided also included the Yongsan Ward office, the Seoul Metropolitan Fire & Disaster Headquarters, the Yongsan fire station and the headquarters of Seoul Metro, according to officials.
The Yongsan Police Station chief was also sidelined from duty and put on disciplinary “standby.”
The crowd crush happened Saturday night in a narrow alley in Seoul’s entertainment district of Itaewon and left 156 people, mostly those in their 20s, killed, including 26 foreigners.
The focus of the investigation is on whether police officers who received the reports had been faithful to their duties and whether police commanders officers on duty had responded properly, according to officials.
The investigation team is also expected to delve into whether the Yongsan Police Station had done sufficient public order or safety management planning ahead of the massive gatherings.
Up to 100,000 were forecast to show up in Itaewon for Halloween celebrations Saturday, as the country had the first Halloween without strict COVID-19 restrictions in nearly three years.
Only about 200 police officers were reportedly dispatched to Itaewon at that time, mainly for sex, drug and theft crackdown missions.
The investigation is also expected to look into allegations that the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency had refused the Yongsan Police Station’s request for reinforcement of riot police forces, and that the Yongsan Ward office, Itaewon Subway Station, and police failed to adopt safety measures in their joint meeting aimed at dealing with Halloween crowds, held three days before the accident.
The investigation team on Wednesday separately questioned a man at the center of allegations raised on social media that a group of five or six people in the crowd, including the man wearing a “rabbit hair band,” deliberately pushed other people, ultimately triggering the deadly accident.
The man reportedly refuted the allegations during the questioning and presented evidence of his itinerary on the night.
“After analyzing witness testimonies and CCTV footage, police plan to review whether to turn his status into a suspect (from a testifier),” a police official said.
Source: Yonhap News Agency