The South Korean capital’s nightlife district fell quiet on Saturday as a whole lot mourned for the 159 folks killed throughout a Halloween crowd crush one yr in the past.
Few folks clad in Halloween costumes have been seen on Saturday in Seoul’s widespread Itaewon neighbourhood, the positioning of final yr’s lethal surge.
The partitions of the sloped alley the place many died have been plastered with post-it notes and condolence messages that learn “we won’t forget you” or “we’ll remember you”.
Restaurants, bars, amusement parks and retailers, in the meantime, are avoiding Halloween-themed occasions as an indication of respect for the victims.
Lee Sung-min, who lives and works within the district, mentioned he didn’t even realise it was the Halloween weekend till early on Saturday.
“It used to be filled with visitors dressed in costumes and blood makeup by this time,” he mentioned.
“But if you look at the age range of the people walking around, it’s mostly just relatively old local residents.”
While gatherings haven’t been banned in Itaewon over Halloween, police have been conducting crowd-control drills with an AI-backed community of practically 1,000 CCTV cameras.
Many in Seoul blamed final yr’s catastrophe on a scarcity of preparation and crowd management measures, with early requires assist going unanswered.
Most who died have been aged of their 20s and 30s.
Many folks have been nonetheless on the lookout for different locations to hitch Halloween festivities, akin to Hongdae, one other widespread spot.
“I thought Hongdae would be better than Itaewon to celebrate Halloween with my boyfriend,” mentioned Cheon Ye-ji, 19.
“It looks like the crowd is better controlled after last year’s incident.”
Last yr’s tragedy prompted a police investigation that resulted in an acknowledgement of negligence and a poor response by the authorities, referring 23 officers for prosecution.
No senior authorities officers have resigned or been eliminated over the catastrophe and many of the 23 officers are nonetheless on trial.
Read extra:
How did Seoul Halloween celebration flip right into a lethal crush?
Witnesses describe ‘sluggish and agonising’ horror as crowd ‘simply could not breathe’
Families of the victims and their supporters have demanded President Yoon Suk Yeol provide a extra honest apology and settle for a radical, unbiased investigation.
“The attitude by the government and the ruling party is inflicting deeper and more painful scars on [us],” the households mentioned in a joint assertion.
“We just want to know the fundamental reasons why on 29 October 2022, thousands of people fell, 159 of them died and thousands of others were injured or ended up living with trauma.”
Source: information.sky.com”