Police chief says he feels 'heavy responsibility' amid criticism of police response to deadly crush

SEOUL, Nov 1 (Yonhap) -- National police chief Yoon Hee-keun said Tuesday he feels "heavy responsibility" over the deadly crowd crush in Seoul's nightlife district of Itaewon, vowing to look thoroughly into what went wrong with the police response by launching an independent investigation team.

Yoon made the remark amid criticism of the police response to the Halloween crowd surge that has left at least 156 people, mostly in their 20s, killed and 30 others seriously injured in South Korea's deadliest disaster in eight years.

"I wish for a quick recovery of those who were injured and feel heavy responsibility for the people who got a huge shock," Yoon told a press conference. "In order to clearly uncover truth and determine responsibility, we will conduct an intensive inspection and investigation into all areas in a swift and thorough manner."

Yoon said an independent body will be set up within the National Police Agency, as critics point out police investigating themselves over bungling their initial response to the incident.

"It was confirmed that there were multiple 112 emergency reports alerting the severity of the situation at the scene right before the incident," Yoon said.

Yoon said police will soon disclose such reports to the public and look into whether officers at the time appropriately handled them.

khj@yna.co.kr
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