R.evealing the truth about the Itaewon disaster and unanswered questions

The broadcast of SBS's "Unanswered Questions" on November 5 highlighted the Itaewon disaster with the subtitle "SOS was ignored in the Halloween tragedy" attracting the attention of people on many country.

The terrible disaster that occurred in Itaewon, where the Halloween festival is held, at around 10 pm on October 29 has become a matter of concern. A large-scale crowd stampede incident occurred in an alley near Hotel H on Itaewon's main street.

The accident k.illed 156 people and injured hundreds. In particular, the majority of those who died were young people in their 20s and 30s who went out to celebrate Halloween. The fact that the survivors of the tragedy have their own stories and are going through each day of grief, obsession, and guilt creates great regret.

In addition, public opinion was outraged when the authorities shirked responsibility, saying that they did not hold the Halloween festival in Itaewon. In the end, officials belatedly bowed their heads in apology, but a lot of people remained angry.

Then why did the Itaewon disaster happen? Many speculations and rumors about the cause of the accident have been made. Among them, many eyewitnesses said the incident began when a man wearing a rabbit headband shouted and urged others to push.

In this regard, the police also began to hunt down criminals in the crowd. Meanwhile, the man with the rabbit headband filmed in multiple videos was found but he explained he had nothing to do with the crash by providing the times he was up and down. subway as well as the location captured in the video. Despite his explanation, the malicious messages continued.

Did the stampede accident happen when one person tried to push the crowd? Many survivors and eyewitnesses said they felt the pressure and thought the crash might have started because someone pushed them from behind.

Accordingly, the production team of "Unanswered Questions" analyzed the accident closely with reports from various people, including survivors and witnesses, as well as video clips. .

A physicist said the laws of physics were hidden in the footage and testimonies of survivors. "When small particles get trapped in a certain area, the motion of the liquid causes them to become more solid, causing immobility that makes it impossible for the particles to move. Depends on the density," he said. of the crowd, if it exceeds a certain level, it becomes completely solid."

According to the crowd density calculation method, 6-7 people can move in 1m, but when more than 9 people are in the same space, it will become solid state and it is easy to jostle. At the time of Itaewon's accident, the crowd density was about 16 people per 1 meter.

The production team tested whether 16 people could be in a space of 1m under the same conditions as the accident site. 16 people tried to climb out together in a space made of scaffolding. However, in a scene that closely resembled the Itaewon accident scene, which was blocked on all sides, another pressure was applied and they eventually pushed the set down.

Therefore, the pressure people feel at the scene of an accident is crowd pressure from the crowd density itself.

The show also pointed out that the simultaneous flow of people descending from the junction at the beginning of the alley and ascending from Itaewon Alley was another problem that caused the accident to happen four hours after the danger was anticipated. .

Regarding the video of the Itaewon accident, a foreign expert who has participated in research in the field of crowd management said, "Everyone knows that this will be a large-scale festival. But the problem is The problem is that they don't pay attention to it."

He pointed out that a crowd could be crushed at any moment and said: "Korea is repeating the mistake that all other countries have made" . Regarding the fact that the authorities are looking for the person responsible for the accident, this expert said: "Those responsible for the safety of the crowd have been repeatedly searched for scapegoats."

At the same time, he added: "No individual or group contributed to such an accident. Finding someone to blame is always the case after an accident. However, it was just an accident. due to the pressure of the crowd."

The expert continued: "Only the authorities know why so many people gathered there. The authorities, who did not anticipate or prepare for the accident, were the cause of the disaster." indicated that tragedy would not have occurred with minimal crowd control.

Then why didn't the authorities anticipate the situation and gather enough security personnel that day? Before this question, the authorities said that it was impossible to manage and control citizens because the Halloween festival had no one to host.

The expert criticized: "Where does the idea of applying a safety management manual to a local festival only if it has a host? They should not have answered like that". At the same time, he added: "Rather, a festival without an organizer is more dangerous and needs to be managed more." He emphasized that if the authorities care about the safety of the people, they should carry out safety management regardless of whether the festival is organized or not.

Thirty years ago, a tragedy similar to the Itaewon disaster happened in Hong Kong. At the time, the government said it would prepare management measures to deal with crowded places and pay attention to disaster safety measures, for example. And 30 years later, many citizens in that country can now safely enjoy Halloween under the supervision of the police, who systematically control citizens to ensure their safety.

In addition, Japan and the US also hold festivals under the control of the police force to prevent accidents. The police will be the organizer of the event regardless of whether the event is hosted or not. This attitude is a far cry from what Itaewon disaster officials said they did not take action because the festival was unorganized despite gathering up to 130,000 people.

Moreover, responding to citizens' complaints is also a dilemma. There were about 100 reports of risks associated with crushing on the day of the accident. But the police did not respond quickly. On the day of the accident, 137 police officers were deployed in Itaewon. However, most of them are in charge of crime-related patrols, making it difficult for them to deal with such crowds appropriately.

In this regard, the expert said: "The disaster management system has only been formally established, but it is not working. It seems that no appropriate response has been given to the reports. reported during the past time" , indicating the absence of emergency response system operators who did not respond even as the disaster continued. He also expressed regret over the disaster that could have been prevented had it not been for the golden moment.

Another expert said: "Despite the continuous reporting calls, all were forwarded to higher authority and no request for assistance was made."

Police insiders are now finding fault in each other. Pushing each other responsibility without anyone admitting their wrongdoing is a similar case that happened with the recent crush disaster in the UK. Then, what will be the conclusion of the Itaewon disaster?

The foreign expert analyzed: "Victims of such big accidents are mostly young people. The problem is that they think they can control the situation on their own and don't need help. they freely go into unsafe places, where no one is responsible. If the authorities had intervened in the incident before, there would not have been such casualties."

South Korea wouldn't have to pay such a heavy price if they mentioned countries that put more emphasis on crowd safety and took measures. Host of "Unanswered Questions" Kim Sang Joong said he felt sorry for the older generations as many young people died in a terrible way.

At a time when the mourning period is coming to an end, the authorities are engaged in a battle of truth over who is responsible for the disaster.

In response, those who host the broadcast saying that there is only one truth and those who say they are not responsible for the obvious truth should not be held accountable. They also said, "The country is the servant of the people, not the master of the people", and expressed condolences to the 156 victims of the Itaewon disaster.

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