(Bloomberg) -- A former South Korean police officer was sentenced to three year imprisonment over a crowd crush that killed at least 158 people at a nightlife district during Halloween festivities in 2022.
Citing media reports and police intelligence, Seoul Western District Court said it was foreseeable that a large crowd would gather in the sloping alleys of Itaewon, causing pedestrians to push each other and posing a serious risk to their lives and bodies, according to a statement from the Seoul court. Itaewon is known as Seoul’s entertainment district and area popular among expats.
“It cannot be denied that the Itaewon disaster was not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster that could have been prevented or the damage could have been significantly reduced if the defendants had each exercised their duty of care in their respective positions. Therefore, the defendants’ guilt cannot be considered light,” the judge ruled, the statement added.
The former chief of Yongsan district police station in Seoul and four other police officers were indicted on charges of increasing casualties by failing to establish accident prevention measures. They also failed to deploy police and control roads in a timely manner despite being able to foresee a safety accident due to the large crowds gathering in the area, the prosecutors said in their indictment.
At least 158 people, including 26 foreigners, were killed after being trapped in a 3.2 meter-wide alley that connects the main street of the central Itaewon neighborhood to an area with restaurants, bars and nightclubs as crowds gathered to celebrate the first Halloween since the coronavirus pandemic. Only 137 officers were on the scene that night which attracted about 100,000 revelers according to local media.
The tragedy shocked a country that’s well-known for its safety record and sparked an extensive investigation into authorities’ handling of the crowd crush. Ultimately, at least 17 people, including the ex-chief of the police station and the head of Yongsan Ward office, were indicted over the incident. The head of Yongsan Ward office was acquitted in the ruling on Monday.
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