South Korean police completed an investigation on Friday into the massive crowding in the Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul for the Halloween celebration in which more than 150 people died, concluding that the disaster was caused «by the inability of the authorities».
The investigation team has pointed out that the authorities, such as the district office, the police or the fire department, did not take any proper emergency rescue or disaster control action, Yonhap news agency reported.
The lack of these measures, as indicated by emergency guidelines, reportedly led to the high death toll.
As a result, several people, including former Yongsan District Police Chief Lee Im Jae and Yongsan Mayor Park Hee Young, have been arrested on charges of negligence, as well as other police officers, including a former Seoul Metropolitan Police (SMPA) official, accused of eliminating internal reports of a possible accident due to overcrowding.
Meanwhile, other officials, such as the SMPA chief or the district fire chief, have been referred for prosecution, without arrest for fatal professional negligence or other related charges.
However, senior government officials have not been named in the report. The investigators have decided not to hold any officials from the Ministry of Interior, the Seoul administration or the National Police accountable, stating that they are not legally responsible.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
