23 cops charged over deadly Seoul Halloween storm 23 cops charged over deadly Seoul Halloween storm

Two and a half months ago, a stampede during Halloween celebrations in Seoul killed 160 people – now nearly two dozen officers face involuntary manslaughter and other charges.

The case has been handed over to the public prosecutor’s office for further investigation, a special team of the South Korean police said on Friday after weeks of investigation. A lack of security measures and other omissions contributed to the high casualty rate.

“Misjudgment of the situation, delayed transmission of information, lack of cooperation between the responsible authorities and delayed rescue measures came together,” said team leader Son Je Han in Seoul. This led to the many deaths of the “man-made catastrophe”.

The accident happened as tens of thousands of people poured into the Itaewon entertainment district for disorganized Halloween parties. In the crowd on a narrow, sloping side street, countless people fell to the ground, suffocated, were crushed or kicked to death. The Ministry of the Interior announced in early January that a young person who survived the accident and later committed suicide was officially counted among the fatalities.

Shortly after the disaster, the authorities were accused of not doing enough to prevent the disaster. Of the total of 23 people against whom the Public Prosecution Service is going to investigate, 6 have already been detained. Among them are the head of the affected Yongsan district, Park Hee Young, and the former chief of the district police station, Lee Im Jae.

The police team said Interior Minister Lee Sang Min, Seoul Mayor Oh Se Hoon and Police Chief Yoon Hee Keun cannot be held responsible for the tragedy. The opposition and the families of the victims had called for senior officials to be investigated and for the interior minister to be fired.

(yam/sda/dpa)