Yongsan police, ward chiefs, 2 others booked for probe over Itaewon crowd crush

SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) — The now-suspended police chief in the district of Yongsan has been booked for an investigation, along with the head of the Yongsan Ward office and two others, on charges of professional negligence resulting in death in connection with the deadly Itaewon crowd crush, officials said Monday.

Police and fire authorities, and the Yongsan Ward office have been under fire following revelations that there had been warning signs before the deadly accident, but they did little to prevent it or to respond in a timely manner.

The investigation team said the four officials booked for a formal investigation are Lee Im-jae, who was relieved of duty as Yongsan Police Station chief following the crush; Yongsan Ward office chief Park Hee-young; senior emergency monitoring officer Ryu Mi-jin, who was in charge at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on the day of the accident; and chief of the Yongsan Fire Station Choi Seong-beom.

Police documents and investigation results have shown that about a dozen emergency calls came in warning of a dangerous level of overcrowding in Itaewon in the few hours leading up to the Oct. 29 crush that killed 156 Halloween partygoers, mostly people in their 20s.

The investigation team said a charge of negligence of duty has been additionally applied to Lee for allegedly having arrived at the accident site too late and belatedly informing the top police command of the emergency situation.

Choi, meanwhile, has been suspected of failing to promptly communicate with police and respond to the emergency, while Park has been accused of neglecting her duties to come up with sufficient crowd control planning and accident prevention measures for the big Halloween gatherings.

Ryu, meanwhile, has been accused of having been absent from her seat at the situation monitoring room on the night of the deadly crowd crush.

Kim Dong-wook, a special investigation team spokesperson, said the team is also conducting a legal review on the scope of responsibilities and roles of the interior ministry and the Seoul city government, suggesting the investigation could further expand to the higher organizations.

He said the investigation team will also look into whether National Police Agency chief Yoon Hee-keun and Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief Kim Kwang-ho had been faithful to their duties to prevent and respond to the accident.

A total of 7,134 pieces of evidence connected to the accident, including documents and digital data, have been seized so far, the investigation team said, adding the seized materials were currently under analysis.

Separately, a total of 157 video clips have been seized and analyzed, it said.

The investigation team also said it has questioned a man at the center of allegations that a group of people deliberately pushed others leading to the Itaewon crowd crush but closed the case without any charge filed against the man known for a “rabbit hair band” he was wearing on the night of the accident.