SEOUL — 2022 · Major Tragedy
Itaewon Crowd Crush
On the night of 29 October 2022, during Halloween celebrations in Seoul's Itaewon district, a crowd crush in a narrow, sloping alley killed 159 people, most of them young. It was South Korea's deadliest crowd disaster. Investigations found that, despite prior warnings, preparations for crowd control had been inadequate. In September 2024 the former chief of the Yongsan police station responsible for the area was sentenced to three years in prison, the highest-ranking officer held criminally liable. In October 2024 the Seoul metropolitan police chief was acquitted, a ruling that angered bereaved families.
- Date
- 2022
- Place
- Yongsan (Itaewon), South Korea, Seoul, KR
- Category
- Major Tragedy
- Case Status
- Closed
- Coordinates
- 37.5345, 126.9946 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 29 October 2022A crowd crush in Itaewon killed 159 people.
- January 2023Investigators pointed to police and local government failures.
- 30 September 2024The former Yongsan police chief was jailed for three years.
- October 2024Seoul's police chief was acquitted, angering families.
Sources
- CNN — Court sentences highest-ranking police officer yet edition.cnn.com ↗
- VOA — South Korean court acquits former police chief over crowd crush voanews.com ↗
- CNN
- VOA News
Source grade B: at least one verifiable linked source. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
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🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.