One year after a tragic incident in South Korea that claimed the lives of 159 Halloween revelers due to a crowd crush, the normally vibrant Halloween celebrations in Seoul's Itaewon nightlife district were replaced by a somber atmosphere of mourning for the victims, Reuters reports.
In the lead-up to Halloween, the usual seasonal decorations that adorn the district's bustling alleys, housing popular nightclubs and bars, were notably absent. Instead, posters and flowers were put up to commemorate those who lost their lives, and many young people chose to celebrate Halloween elsewhere. Lee Sung-min, a long-time resident and worker in the Seoul district, remarked that he hadn't even realized it was Halloween weekend until early Saturday.
He noted, "It used to be filled with visitors dressed in costumes and fake blood by this time. But if you look at the age range of the people walking around, it's mostly just relatively older local residents."
The tragic crowd surge in Itaewon last year resulted in a fatal crush in a narrow alley. The disaster was widely attributed to inadequate preparation and crowd control measures, with initial calls for assistance going unanswered. Most of the victims were in their twenties and thirties. On the anniversary of the incident, Lee Jung-hyeop visited Itaewon and left a note, saying, "I've left a note telling (the victims) not to lose courage and rest in peace."
This year, gatherings in Itaewon were not banned during Halloween, but authorities and police conducted crowd-control drills that involved an AI-assisted network of nearly 1,000 closed-circuit TV cameras. This took place in preparation for the first anniversary of the tragedy. Despite this, many people sought alternative locations to celebrate Halloween, with Hongdae being another popular spot among the young.
Cheon Ye-ji, a 19-year-old student, explained her choice to celebrate in Hongdae, stating, "I thought Hongdae would be better than Itaewon to celebrate Halloween with my boyfriend. It looks like the crowd is better controlled after last year's incident."
The incident in Itaewon last year deeply affected a nation still reeling from the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking, which claimed the lives of 304 individuals, including 250 students on a school trip. The tragic events of last year prompted a police investigation that resulted in acknowledgment of negligence and a poor response by the authorities. As a result, 23 officials were referred for prosecution, but no senior government officials resigned or were removed from their positions in connection with the disaster.
In the crowd crush last year among the dead, 19 foreigners were identified, including citizens of Uzbekistan, the Russian Federation, Iran, China, and Norway.
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