"I Think I'm Going to Be Crushed to Death": Zero Dispatches Despite 11 Emergency Calls

[Anchor]

Two days ahead of the fourth anniversary of the Itaewon crowd crush, the special investigation committee has released its interim findings. The committee pointed out that the responses from related agencies, including the police and fire services, were comprehensively inept despite a flood of emergency calls at the time of the disaster. It also announced plans to directly investigate former President Yoon Suk Yeol, the ultimate responsible party, at the detention center.

Reporting by Park Se-won.

[Reporter]

The Itaewon crowd crush occurred in October 2022 in Seoul's Itaewon district during Halloween festivities, resulting in 159 deaths.

Releasing its interim investigation results four years after the accident, the special investigation committee first pointed out the police's poor on-site management.

At the time, 120 police officers were deployed to the area, of which 49 were plainclothes detectives cracking down on drugs, and not a single riot police unit was deployed to manage the crowd.

It was also found that a total of 11 emergency calls were received that night, starting with the first call warning, "I think I'm going to be crushed to death," but not a single dispatch was made.

This directly contradicts previous police claims that four of the cases involved on-site dispatches.

[Wee Eun-jin / Standing Commissioner, Special Investigation Commission on the Itaewon Disaster: The committee determined that there is a possibility there were victims who could have been saved if rescue and first aid had been properly carried out.]

The fire department activated its emergency rescue control center 58 minutes after the first call, and an official in charge from Yongsan District Office arrived at the scene more than an hour after the disaster occurred while removing promotional flyers.

The committee noted there were also gaps in judgment and command by the competent ministries.

It took the Ministry of the Interior and Safety 43 minutes to recognize the situation and make its first report to the minister, and the first meeting was held at 10 a.m. the day after the disaster.

Furthermore, it was found that during the initial meeting, then-Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, concerned that the state could be held accountable, decided to change the terminology from a "disaster" to an "accident," and victims to "the deceased."

[Lee Sang-min / Former Minister of the Interior and Safety (October 30, 2022): Unlike usual cases, we understand that this was not a problem that could have been resolved by deploying police or fire personnel in advance.]

After today's (the 27th) briefing, bereaved families protested the format when the committee members left without taking questions.

[You said you would be transparent, and now the members are just leaving?]

The committee stated that its remaining tasks are to ascertain additional facts and summon key responsible parties for investigation.

The special committee, whose activities run until September next year, plans to pursue visiting investigations at the detention center for former President Yoon Suk Yeol and former Minister Lee.

(Camera & Reporting: Joo Yong-jin | Video Editing: Yoon Tae-ho | Design: Seo Hyun-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.