South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol today placed flowers at a monument in memory of the 154 killed in a stampede in Seoul during Halloween parties.
A team of 561 will investigate the accident, which also caused 33 serious injuries, according to a statement from the Ministry of Interior and Security.
About 100,000 people, mostly young people in their 20s, dressed for Halloween, had converged on Itaewon on Saturday, an area of bars and clubs in a maze of narrow, steep alleys along a main avenue.
Some witnesses described a complete lack of measures to channel or control the crowd.
Police have already acknowledged that they deployed just 137 officers in Itaewon on Saturday night, although they said the number was higher than at Halloween parties in previous years, in response to criticism on the internet and in the South Korean press. .
The stampede “was not a problem that could have been resolved by early mobilization of police or firefighters,” Interior Minister Lee Sang-min said on Sunday.
South Korean police have experience in controlling crowds at demonstrations, but in these cases organizers are required to declare plans in advance to authorities, which was not the case at Halloween parties in Itaewon.
South Korea will observe national mourning throughout this week. Many events were cancelled, with flags flying at half-mast across the country.
