South Korea crowd crush: Police received a first emergency call hours before the deadly incident
Days after the deadly incident in Itaewon which claimed close to 150 lives, reports have emerged that the Police had received the first emergency call hours before the ‘deadly crush’ took place.
“That alley is really dangerous right now people going up and down, so people can’t come down, but people keep coming up, it’s gonna be crushed. I barely made it to get out but it’s too crowded. I think you should control it,” the caller said, as reported by the BBC.
The police officer asked if the caller meant that people weren’t flowing well, that “they get crushed and fall, and then there’s going to be a big accident?” Yes, the caller responded – “this is so chilling right now”.
This was the first of at least 10 calls that were made to the police over the next three hours on Saturday. However, their presence in the area was entirely inadequate. Extensive evidence points towards glaring failures by the authorities to avert the tragedy.
According to the fire authorities, they received reports that 10 people were pushed down under the crowd and were having difficulty breathing at around 22:24.
The clogged streets made it difficult for emergency workers and ambulances to reach the area
“People began pushing from behind, it was like a wave – there was nothing you could do,” Mr Ahammed said, who found himself caught up in the crowd, as reported by the BBC.
What were the numbers?
“People were suffocating, screaming, getting squeezed, falling… there were just too many people”. Around an hour after the deadly crush had begun. The first confirmed death toll was issued at 02:30. The initial numbers given by the officials were that 59 people had died and a further 150 were injured. An hour later the numbers had risen to 120 dead with 100 injured, and soon surpassed 150. Videos from the scene show dozens of people attempting CPR on victims. Dead bodies lay covered with blue sheets on the streets.
