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The indictment of Seoul police chief Kim Kwang-ho came more than
a year after the crowd crush in October 2022, which killed 159
people on a Halloween weekend in the entertainment district of
Itaewon in capital Seoul. Kim is the highest-ranking police
official charged in connection with the crowd crush.
The annual festivities in the popular nightlife area of Itaewon
turned deadly on Oct. 29 after tens of thousands of young
revellers crowded into narrow alleyways to celebrate the first
Halloween free of COVID curbs in three years.
Authorities, including the police, did not devise safety
measures even though dense crowds made an accident likely, and
did not take appropriate steps after calls for rescue started
coming in, according to the investigation team.
In January last year, a special investigation team referred Kim
and 22 other police, rescue and district office officials to the
prosecution on charges related to the government's inadequate
response to the stampede.
(Reporting by Heekyong Yang; editing by Giles Elgood)
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