Hundreds of thousands of people protested this Saturday in Seoul, South Korea, to demand justice after a stampede that killed at least 156 people celebrating Halloween.
Dressed in black, with black masks and candles in hand, and posters with an appointment: 6:34 am. That was the moment when, on October 29, at least 156 people were crushed to death by a crowd in the city of Itaewon and many more were injured.
The vigils began this morning and occupied several areas of Seoul. Along with the memory of the victims, many protesters made it clear that they did not accept the government’s apology and the promise of more security in future events with crowds.
Many South Koreans took to the streets to call for the fall of the government. “Resignation is also a form of condolences!” read one of the banners.
In others, the number 11 was seen, alluding to the delay in the arrival of aid. This is because there were at least 11 calls to emergency services before help arrived.
South Korean Interior Minister Lee Sang-min apologized on Tuesday. It was the first official apology since the tragedy, which occurred when some 100,000 people gathered in Itaewon, an area of restaurants, bars and nightclubs in a maze of steep, narrow alleys along one of Seoul’s main avenues.
South Korea’s police chief had already admitted that the security force received multiple warnings “that a large crowd had gathered even before the accident occurred, indicating urgent danger”.
The ruling party in South Korea has announced that it intends to review the security and disaster management law in the wake of the stampede.
Seoul City Hall has a real-time crowd control system that uses mobile phone data to predict the size of attendance at an event, but it was not used on Saturday night, according to local media.
Source: TSF
