A senior South Korean police inspector who was being investigated in connection with a deadly Halloween crowd crush in Seoul has been found dead at his home.
The inspector was found dead by his family at around 12:45pm on Friday, South Korean police said.
Police said they are investigating the circumstances.
The news comes after investigators raided the offices of the Yongsan District Police Department, which oversees the Itaewon nightlife neighborhood where the crash took place.
This is breaking news. More to come…
title: “Seoul Halloween Crash Police Inspector Under Investigation In Disaster Found Dead "
ShowToc: true
date: “2022-11-09”
author: “Harriette Outwater”
A senior South Korean police inspector who was being investigated in connection with a deadly Halloween crowd crush in Seoul has been found dead at his home.
The inspector was found dead by his family at around 12:45pm on Friday, South Korean police said.
Police said they are investigating the circumstances.
The news comes after investigators raided the offices of the Yongsan District Police Department, which oversees the Itaewon nightlife neighborhood where the crash took place.
In one of the country’s worst disasters, 156 people died when tens of thousands of costumed Halloween revelers poured into the popular nightlife district, many trapped as narrow streets were blocked.
Public outrage at the disaster has grown since it was revealed that members of the public had called the police hours before the tragedy to warn of overcrowding problems.
Korean authorities also came under fire after witnesses said there was little to no crowd control in Itaewon on the night of the crash – despite police receiving warnings well in advance.
Last week, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Service said investigators raided eight of its offices and seized documents related to reports made by members of the public to the 112 emergency hotline.
The raids were carried out by a special investigation unit set up by the National Police Service (NPA) to look into the disaster. The NPA said last week it had suspended the chief of the Yongsan Police Station, one of the police stations closest to the crash site.
Records provided to CNN by the NPA show that police received at least 11 calls from people in Itaewon who were concerned about the possibility of a crowd crash just four hours before the incident occurred.
The first call came in at 6:34 p.m., when an operator warned: “It looks very dangerous … I’m afraid people might get crushed.”
Another who called less than two hours later said there were so many people packed into Itaewon’s narrow alleyways that they kept falling and injuring themselves.
Speaking to the media last week, NPA chief Yoon Hee-keun admitted for the first time that the police had made mistakes in their response.
He added that the police response to emergency calls was “inadequate” and that he felt a “heavy responsibility” as head of the agency.
