Homepage_Takeover

75

2

BUZZ News
Posted by Sophie-Ha Tuesday, November 1, 2022

K-netizens wonder why the Itaewon tragedy was not prevented despite dozens of reports made hours before the incident

AKP STAFF

If any tragedy could have been prevented, no one would hesitate to take action. Also, if there is a foreshadowing of a terrible accident, people will take action in order to prevent it. This is what is going on through the minds of many South Koreans who have been left with the trauma of the Itaewon tragedy that occurred this past weekend.

The shock of the Itaewon tragedy still remains in the hearts of many Koreans, as many young lives were lost in the heartbreaking accident. After the incident occurred on October 29, investigations began to find out the cause of the accident that happened in the narrow alleyway at Itaewon. So far, many surveillance footages and social media videos revealed that some people in the crowd began shouting "Push, push," causing a group of people to push everyone aggressively.

Korean netizens are also wondering why there weren't more police officers at the scene to control the crowd before the accident. This question has been asked more after it was revealed that a streamer had reported to the police about the crowd surge 1 hour before the accident.

Additionally, it was recently found that there were dozens of reports made to the police by citizens in Itaewon asking for policemen to be dispatched to control the crowds. Numerous transcripts revealed that different Korean citizens made multiple calls to the police warning about the huge crowd surge.

Many gave detailed reports about the location - the alleyway at the Itaewon train station where the tragedy happened. Each report also requested that police be sent to break up the crowd and control the influx of people to that area.

Nevertheless, not many policemen were allocated to the area and were unable to control the crowd leading to the deadly accident. That is why many Koreans are blaming the police for the lack of respondents sent to the scene when the reports were made hours before the accident.

K-netizens commented, "What were they doing not sending the police there?" "This accident could have been prevented, that is why I am getting so mad," "SO many people were reporting to the police," "People warned that there is going to be an accident but there were so few policemen," "What were they doing even if so many calls were made," "These reports were so detailed and gave the detailed location," "I hope that all those people who recognized the dangers and made the report are all safe," and "Condolences to everyone who were victims to this horrific accident."

Of course, there were police sent to the scene, but the number was not enough. In one video, a police officer is seen screaming and pleading to the crowd to clear the Itaewon area. He was screaming for people to move away from the street and begging them to move.

According to witness accounts, the policeman's voice was lost in the loud music, and some even testified that some people in the crowd didn't believe he was a real policeman. Many initially thought he was in a police costume; hence the crowd was difficult to be controlled with so few policemen.

  1. Buzz
23 22,317 Share 97% Upvoted
 
kagayakugucci
kagayakugucci9,267 pts Tuesday, November 1, 2022 2
Tuesday, November 1, 2022

SBS has obtained an internal police report which states that the progressives could bring down Yoon's government over this.

https://twitter.com/hyunsuinse...

If things weren't painfully clear before this to everyone, they should be now. The government knows that their sheer negligence is the cause of the deaths of 150 young people, and they are doing damage control. This is why they won't admit blame no matter what, even when experts in the field agree that the tragedy was completely avoidable. This is why there's a constant emphasis on the alleged incident involving 5-6 men wearing bunny ears and pushing people instead of literally anything else.

‏‏‎The facts of the matter are:
1) Itaewon sees insane numbers of visitors every year for Halloween and has seen even more visitors for the 2017's Halloween celebration than this year. This year's turnout is not unexpected at all.

2) The police received 79 calls 4 hours before the tragedy from concerned citizens asking them to come and regulate the crowd. Additionally, they received calls from business owners days in advance who were inquiring about the police presence too since they expected a large turnout this time.

3) President Yoon has moved his office to Yongsan, using 700 of the Yongsan police department officers as his security, thus leaving the department understaffed.

4) The department has been begging for more staff since the beginning of this year.

‏‏‎Ordinary citizens and business owners pay taxes so the government and its services can keep them all safe. The government has failed to do so and needs to be held accountable. Everything was entirely preventable. Stop blaming the victims.

28 (+28 / -0)
Share

2 more replies

 
123PoP
123PoP8,075 pts Tuesday, November 1, 2022 6
Tuesday, November 1, 2022

crowd control is managed by THE POLICE and planned by the City for coming events. Both were inactive and did NOT act accordingly. Y'all excusing the police just because ONE police officer was doing his job is confusing. They needed to dispatch more police, closed off streets and prevent more people in. How can one cop manage a large crowd in a loud alleyway..actually that video just shows how incompetent the police are. More police were needed, early sighs were ignored.

7 (+13 / -6)
Share

6 more replies

SHOW ALL COMMENTS

allkpop in your Inbox

THE TOP 10 STORIES DELIVERED DAILY
New Message

SEND