Stampede in Itaewon, Seoul,: People made phone calls hours before the tragedy

A massive stampede in Itaewon, South Korea, has left more than 150 people dead.
The first call to the police in Itaewon came at 18:34 local time, hours before the deadly stampede.

Callers to South Korea’s 112 emergency number said they were dangerously crowded in an alley next to the Hamilton hotel on the main road to Itaewon.

“That lane is really dangerous now, people keep going up and can’t go down, it’s going to crush. I had a hard time getting out, it’s so crowded. I think you should control the situation.” “The caller said.

The policeman asked the caller if he meant that people couldn’t move well, “They get crushed and fall, and then there’s a big accident?”
Yes, the caller replied, it’s chilling now.

It was the first of at least 10 calls to police in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday. But the police presence that night was woefully inadequate, residents said.
A growing body of evidence, experts and a series of official apologies point to a clear failure of duty. Local officials and police were ill-prepared to deal with the crowds, and once people gathered, they struggled to contain them.
Earlier Tuesday, South Korea’s police chief said their emergency response was “inadequate,” the first time officials have admitted they didn’t do enough to prevent the situation.

The stampede in Itaewon, Seoul, reportedly took place as 100,000 people gathered around the business district to celebrate the first mask-free Halloween since the coronavirus outbreak.
It is estimated that thousands of people came to Itaewon to celebrate Halloween. Itaewon is famous for its nightlife. That’s a staggering number, even for this normally busy neighborhood.

Jeong An-sook lives two blocks behind Itaewon’s main Street, about 300 meters from where the accident happened. She tried to leave the house between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. local time, but said the crowd on her street was so dense that she couldn’t move. She was afraid, so she went home.
A restaurant owner returning home at 22:00 local time said he couldn’t even get off the bus at Itaewon station because it was so crowded. So he went to another station and took a detour home.

Another woman was selling flowers for people to place at a makeshift memorial for the victims. She is a money changer. No police were seen, she said. Earlier in the evening, local volunteers, rather than police, tried to organize the crowd, she said.

She also said the local business association had asked the police last week for help in controlling the weekend crowds, but had not received help.
It is understood that the Yongsan District Council held two meetings. The first, on October 26, was attended by local police officers, subway station owners and local business associations. The next day, council staff held a second meeting to discuss what to do about Halloween celebrations over the weekend.

According to local companies, a Global Village Festival was held in early October to showcase Itaewon s international characteristics. The event was organized by the council, which prepared a crowd control plan.
But after the accident, district chief Park Hee-young told local media that Yongsan District had done everything it could, but there was no single organizer for the Halloween celebration, unlike other events. She has apologized to the victims and their families.