Seoul marked a somber anniversary over the weekend, a 12 months after almost 160 folks died in a crowd surge in Itaewon, a well-liked nightlife district within the metropolis.
Oct. 29, 2022, had began as a long-awaited Halloween celebration — the primary in a number of years in South Korea that was freed from pandemic restrictions. A mass of revelers and a bottleneck of human site visitors in a cramped alley that evening led to disaster, and a nationwide outpouring of grief and questions on why the authorities have been unable to forestall it.
This 12 months, the gathering in Itaewon was a lot smaller. A number of neighborhoods in Seoul noticed an outsized police presence.
Emergency automobiles and police vehicles lined the principle avenue in Itaewon on Saturday evening. The authorities had deployed further personnel to assist handle pedestrian site visitors in a number of nightlife areas over the weekend.
Earlier within the week, a memorial to the victims was unveiled within the alley. Lee Hyo-suk, whose daughter Jeong Ju-hee, 30, had died within the crowd crush, cried as she approached the plaque on Thursday.
The elevated police presence was seen on Saturday within the alley the place the group crush had occurred final 12 months.
Officers directed site visitors, however the neighboring bars remained largely empty within the early hours of the night.
The victims’ households honored their family members at a brief memorial in entrance of Seoul Metropolis Corridor on Saturday. They bowed 159 instances — for all the victims — in entrance of pictures and meals they’d introduced as choices for the deceased. Many dad and mom had ready their kids’s favourite snacks, like pizza, espresso and tteokbokki, or spicy rice desserts.
There was elevated safety alongside most of the streets, alleyways and stairs in Itaewon forward of Halloween this 12 months.
Final 12 months, detectives in Itaewon had largely centered on cracking down on unlawful drug use and failed to assist with crowd management. That modified this 12 months.
A wall within the alleyway was lined with messages and flowers on Saturday night.
Barricades have been put in in components of the road in Itaewon in an effort to higher management the group in each instructions.
Individuals carrying Halloween masks returned to the neighborhood, although in far fewer numbers than final 12 months.
Officers patrolled the principle avenue in Itaewon on Saturday to direct pedestrian site visitors.
Police buses alongside the principle avenue.
A member of the family touched a sufferer’s {photograph} on the non permanent memorial at Seoul Metropolis Corridor on Monday. Most people who died have been of their 20s and 30s.
