According to the Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office, the head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Kim Kwang-ho, has been indicted for his negligence in the Halloween crowd crush in Seoul in 2022, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 160 people.
This indictment of Kim, the Seoul police chief, came more than a year after the tragic incident that occurred on a Halloween weekend in the entertainment district of Itaewon in the South Korean capital. This event makes Kim the highest-ranking police official to be charged in connection with the crowd crush.
On October 29, 2022, the annual Halloween festivities in the popular nightlife area of Itaewon turned deadly as tens of thousands of young revellers crowded into narrow alleyways to celebrate the first Halloween free of COVID curbs in three years, resulting in 159 deaths.
The investigation team found that authorities, including the police, did not implement safety measures despite the dense crowds, which made an accident likely. Additionally, they did not take the necessary steps after receiving calls for rescue.
In January of last year, a special investigation team sent Kim and 22 other police, rescue, and district office officials to the prosecution for their inadequate response to the stampede.
(Reporting by Heekyong Yang; editing by Giles Elgood)
