South Korea police chief has said crowd control during the Itaewon crush was inadequate - the first acknowledgement from officials that they did not do enough to prevent it. Amid growing calls for accountability, Yoon Hee-keun said police response was disappointing and that he felt  limitless responsibility about public safety over what happened. It happened on Saturday night as crowds gathered in an alley in Itaewon, a popular nightlife district in Seoul, to celebrate Halloween without restrictions for the first time since Covid. Mr Yoon said police had received numerous calls before the accident happened, alerting them to the seriousness of the situation, but their response was lacking. Seoul police said the first call to South Korea emergency number came at 18:34 local time and there were 10 more calls over the next three-and-a-half hours.

The police chief said the police would conduct a speedy and rigorous intensive investigation" to see if proper action was taken after receiving the calls, and if officers had reacted appropriately. Mr Yoon comments follow growing public demands for accountability. Authorities initially sought to portray it as an accident which could not be easily blamed on anyone. The police earlier said they deployed more officers for this year Halloween festivities than they did for pre-Covid parties. One congressman on Tuesday also pointed out that because there was no main organiser for the party, there had been no special requests made to the police for crowd control and safety management.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP