Itaewon tragedy:
11 written records of 112 emergency police report calls that night have been released, from 6:30 pm to just a couple minutes before what authorities have been referring to as the time the "accident" happened -- 10:15pm.
I am translating them here. Thread:
Also new today:
There was a viral video -- a policeman screaming from the top of his lung, "people are dying, pls move this way, help, please."
Yonhap & Hankyoreh interviewed him.
He's blaming himself, thinking, I could have saved more
Hello all, got this from a friend trying to spread the word.
An Itaewon crowd crush survivor is looking for a man named Stephen — short blonde hair — who carried her and cared for her when she was near-unconscious on Saturday.
Her family wants to thank him & return his jacket:
When you are sharing or posting photos and videos of the victims of Itaewon crowd surge on the streets getting CPR or afterwards etc, please think twice. Please don’t post what you would not want to encounter on social media if you were their loved ones
This is a devastating story. Among the 154 Itaewon deaths, there was 1 middle school student.
According to ROK education superintendent, the student went to visit Halloween festivities with her mother and aunt together.
All three died from the crush.
(1) 22.10.29 6:34 pm
= ... that alley, people going up and down, looks so precarious. People can't come down and [others are] keep being pushed upwards, feels like [ppl] would be crushed do death. I barely got out, so much crowd, think [police] control needed
(1) 22.10.29 6:34 pm /2
-You're saying, people cannot walk up and down well, and big accident looks possible if people are crushed pushed fall etc?
=Yes it's giving me goosebumps so much. It's such a narrow alley, everyone getting off of station walks up and that crowd mixes...
Lee Kang-in World Cup debut today warms my heart 🥺
In 2007 he was on kids soccer TV show Fly Shootdori as a heckin talented 6 y/o baby.
Now he’s Team ROK’s youngest, debuting his way into World Cup stage as he…winks at 형아 peers
How it started: How it’s going:
(1) 22.10.29 6:34 pm /3
=...with those trying to get out, and there are people lining up in front of (a?) club. They are mixed ...Nobody is controlling this right now. Police should stand here controlling, get some crowd out first, then let people in. People can't even come out.
THREAD: South Korean media outlets reported on the fire department PMR (walkie-talkie) records of the night of the Itaewon crowd crush.
From 10:15pm, fire department reportedly asked for more backup from police 29 times. Per Yonhap and JTBC:
지난 하루 반응을 보니 청와대 개방 옵틱이 너무 ‘북한스러운’ 기획이었다는, ‘일본 주술의식’같았다는 평도 보인다. 제일 많이 본건 복사꽃 '귀신 쫓기' 의식같아보였다는 평인데, 문화재청 관계자가 "매화꽃이다" 라고 설명했다고. 매화고 복숭아고를 떠나 애초에 왜 꽃묶음과 꽃목걸이가 필요했나
He is Kim Baek-gyeom, 7-years police. He was initially dispatched w/ 2 other junior police to respond to sth else. But as he moved there, he heard screaming & found out ppl were crushed, some fell, pleading, "please help" & citizens were trying to rescue.
"If I made a judgment a little bit faster, if I thought of a different, better measure, I would have saved more people," he said, blaming himself.
"What if I [went back] and brought the megaphone ... I would have saved at least one more person," he says, breaking into tears.
(2) 8:09 pm
= So many ppl, congested... being pushed (pushing?) it's a mess, ppl are falling down. It's a mess, ppl are being injured... regulation pls.. think you should do something pls
Jam-packed line 5 subway station.
Maybe it’s just me but something I’ve never seen before at busy commute time here — people lining up towards up the stairs as well rather than just standing and waiting randomly
He says he didn't want interview concerned that ppl will see him as a hero of some sort, which was a narrative already out there with viral videos. But the only reason for doing the interview was to say he is deeply sorry to the bereaved families, he said
BREAKING: North Korean state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun publishes first images of the April 25 military parade.
Photos show Kim Jong Un and his wife, Hwasong-17 ICBM and other missiles marching through the square.
I have translated per released log, for the sake of public knowledge about the situation from hours ahead of when many of us thought it happened.
I have only seen text, not heard audio, so there could be discrepancies in connotation in the translations.
Kim is affiliated with Itaewon Police Station.
He explained that too many people were already crushed, so he put out SOS to other police, whom he worked with to rescue. But people were already crushed, and pressure was getting strong, so he ran to the back of the rows.
"When I lie down, I feel so sorry, thinking that the people who died that night are looking at me ... I keep regretting, thinking, if I made a wiser decision at the time, wouldn't I have saved at least one more?"
(2) 8:09pm /2
- ... Where is this that there's too many ppl, falling and injuring? (finds out location) Yes ok, we'll check.
=Yes please, I ask of you. Thank you
To some comments saying, why didn't he bring a megaphone? He was there for a different case, so didn't have it, but he made a call that there was no time to go back to the station and come back, as he could already see people passing out, not breathing.
(3) 8:33pm
= ... So many people, so much crowd here ... people are like falling on the street right now, it's so much looking like an accident is going to happen, it's dangerous
-People fell?
=Yes. fell and it's not being controlled. The road at 3 way intersection blocked ...
That's when he was filmed shouting. He went to one of the bar terrace, and asked citizens to move back. Unlike many thinks from the video, most of the citizens followed his lead and moved, he said.
This is the end of the log.
Please understand that this is a very rough translation with no copy edit.
I've received these logs from local media reporters, but you can find all of them here in full text in multiple media reports, such as this one.
Here is a long thread on what ROK officials have been saying so far.
Head of Nat'll Police Agency earlier said that there were "several calls" reported to police in advance.
He admitted that "response to the 112 calls & at the scene were insufficient."
@News1Kr
“They were reporting the risk of the accident due to a large crowd surge. Despite that, I believe the police’s response to the 112 calls and at the scene were insufficient,” he admitted. (2/2)
(3) 8:33pm /2
=Here right now, it looks like something serious could happen
-Oh... I see
=Yes. It's really serious right now
-Oh...
=I have a video I've filmed, is there any way I can send this to you?
-You can send it to 112 via text
=Ok now sending now (...)
(4) 8:53pm /2
-Being crushed to death?
=It's bc there's so many people (inaudible) pls I ask of you
-Is this bc of Halloween party?
=Yes correct it's a chaos. A chaos
-Chaos?
=Yes really no joke ... this is not joke, not prank call
-(confirms location) Ok. Police on its way
(4) 8:53pm
(connection unstable)
=So many ppl, feel like (we?) could be crushed to death (states location) ...
-So what's happening right now?
=So many people right now... (inaudible)
- What? I'll track your location
= (inaudible) ...people almost being crushed to death
(5) 9:00pm
=So many people, crowd here, it's about to (just a second away from?) turn(ing) into a big scale accident all pushed. I think you should come here and control
-Where are you? (location confirmation) ...
"If I made a judgment a little bit faster, if I thought of a different, better measure, I would have saved more people," he said. The only thing in his mind is how sorry he is to the bereaved families, thinking all these, he said.
(5) 9:00pm /2
- ... Yes yes I think you should come here right away ... Think you'll need to make emergency dispatch ... [crowds are] bound here right now, just a step(second?) away from big accident happening ... I have been rescued
He asked for men who were standing nearby to help for rescue, and tens ran in to help, he recalled. Police made them into groups of four, to move people. "Fire fighters, citizens, police, everybody there joined in for rescue... but so many people died," he said.
His brother-in-law was in Itaewon that night too, and when he was rescuing, he kept thinking, I may lose a family today, he said. And now he thinks: I also felt that way when I couldn't reach him, and how heartbreaking would it be for bereaved families right now?
(6) 9:02 pm
= ... So much crowd ... All being pushed on the road. If this continues I feel like accident really might happen. Everyone is panicking.
-(confirms location)
=Yes here... the road here please, do something. Really, [it feels like] people might die
People who were standing at the front & back were mostly alive, but people who were in the middle part of the crushed crowd looked like they already passed away. After they got the crowd out, with help from citizens who volunteered & carried the bodies, immediately conducted CPR.
(8) 9:10pm
=...Feel like people are going to be crushed to death
-So many people?
=Almost crushing to death ... Halloween festivity... situation serious. People are being crushed to death there inside [
-So where are you
=Halloween festivity place, Itaewon
(7) 9:07pm
= ... So many people here. [Risk?] of people being crushed to death
-(location confirmed, police dispatched)
=When you come here you have to do (inaudible). Everybody one way, one way passing control please
(11) 10:11pm
=...Feels like crushing to death is going to happen here, everyone panicking
-Where are you?
=... (states location) Is this 112? ... (police tries to track location)
= Ahh ahhh (screaming) back alley Itaewon back alley Itaewon
-Ok. Ok. Police will be moving there.
(8) 9:10pm /2
-Business name pls, like shop name
=It's not about name the whole street is like that right now
-...So the place where there's so many ppl that it feels like crushed to death -- which exit? Please state in detail
=(figuring out location) situation pretty serious
(9) 9:51pm
=(states location) So many people here. We'll need you please to control crowd... can you please come asap...looks like very dangerous situation here right now... (groaning) please come quickly... yes please come quickly...
(10) 10:00pm
=(states location) Many people... trying to walk down the alley, pushing and feel like (I?) might be crushed to death. Control needed please ...
At the end, one anchor tells Kim it's not his fault but the system's & that he did his best
Kim, breaks into tears on the phone, weeps without words. The other anchor, hearing him weep, wraps the call up repeating it's not his fault, as her voice trembles
I still can’t get over the fact that this big Seoul-based Netflix series will be based on a plot that an American girl becomes a pen-pal with Korean boyfriend, so comes to study in ROK, then on day 1 realizes this boy already had a girlfriend behind her back
The WORST day to click on the 'publish' button by mistake:
Joongang Ilbo's prewritten article on Kim Jong Un's death seems to have been accidentally published at 15:32 KST.
Dear friends in South Korea -- although today's evacuation notice was a false alert, it's important to keep track of possible shelters nearest to your workplace and home. Recommend visiting ROK government's : mark your maps & take screenshots.
Update:
Thanks to your help, we have found Stefan from one of the thousands of RTs & DMs. It was his jacket and he did his best to save a lot of people that night.
We're in touch with him and connecting with the survivor's family. Thank you everyone who helped spread the word
OK I know this is a minor detail but Kim Jong Un's sister Kim Yo Jong is wearing eyeshadow and other makeup (never saw her doing this before), with the headband that she wore for the new politburo headshot.
2013년 오바마 대통령 연설 도중 UC버클리대의 한국인 재학생 홍씨가 ‘이민자 추방을 멈추라‘며 큰소리로 시위한 적이 있다.
오바마 대통령은 ‘그 방법을 찾고자 여기 모인것이다’ 라며 대답했다. 경호요원이 홍씨를 데리고 나가려 하자 대통령은 ‘그러지 말라. 그도 여기 있을수 있다’며 말렸다.
Trending on South Korean twitter: 멀쩡한 청와대 (fine Blue House, as in why did you leave BH)
Context -- people slamming his absence at emergency control center because reportedly he was trapped in his apartment(?). Biggest rain in 80 yrs & flood led to casualties, missing ppl
President Yoon Suk-yeol being slammed for apparently having no choice but to be briefed about flood disaster from home last night because he couldn't go to the control centre... due to floods.
People asking again why on earth he left the Blue House that had everything ready.
Paulo Bento objects Anthony Taylor’s call to blow the whistle at the last second corner kick moment, Taylor gives Bento a red card, Bento be like wtf man
A nurse’s post-it at Itaewon
“Albeit briefly, after being with you at your final moment, I’m immensely sorry. [Worried] the CPR I did to you was painful… should’ve held your hand & help your final moment not be lonely…the 3 ppl I was with at final moment, hope you RIP”
Shibal biyong implies that you might as well make yourself happy right now because your prospects in the long term seem bleak. Buy that nice coat, because you’ll never get on the housing ladder. Eat that steak, because you’ll never save up enough to retire.
As I continue to hear more and more friends and colleagues finding out about the death of people they knew, I have just heard that the Itaewon crowd crush claimed the lives of 2 int’l students at Korean Language Institute, Yonsei University.
North Korea's Rodong Sinmun today carried an article (with photos) on George Floyd
"Various regions in the U.S. see protests that condemn a white policeman's brutality murdering a black man"
I’ve been checking on friends if they’re ok after facing Itaewon tragedy— from the scenes & through news. Many said they woke up to missed calls & dozens texts from their worried parents, as I did too.
24hr+ passed, a lot talking about the feeling of “it could’ve been anyone”
THREAD: I've translated the log of calls reported to police from 6:30-10:11pm, from the alley where Itaewon crowd crush killed more than 150.
Please understand it's a rough translation, not copy-edited.
But I felt this is sth needed to be shared, devastating as it is to read.
Itaewon tragedy:
11 written records of 112 emergency police report calls that night have been released, from 6:30 pm to just a couple minutes before what authorities have been referring to as the time the "accident" happened -- 10:15pm.
I am translating them here. Thread:
For those who returned from holidays & catching up: this is a big deal.
Kim Jong Un made a milestone announcement of a new "line" (로선): Unification is realistically “impossible” & two Koreas are separate "belligerent "foreign "states” at war (교전국).
Let's go back a bit & check again
1/ When did this rumor about Kim Jong Un's health start?
- When North Korean state media broke precedent and did not report whether Kim visited Kumsusan Palace of the Sun event for Kim Il Sung's birthday (April 15).
There were several times when Kim Jong Un disappeared from the public eye.
But Wednesday’s no-show should be interpreted more carefully IMO bc 1) the bday of DPRK Founder has a very particular meaning attached to it and 2) KJU never missed the Kumsusan visit celebrating this.
My late grandmother survived a random “red hunt” in her town — in which people were “executed” without any clear reason or proof — during the Korean War.
She had a South Korean soldier’s love letter for her in her pocket, which proved her innocence, “not being a communist.”
Thank you for all of your help. Me and the friends and families of the survivors are speechless we found him and grateful.
I’ll share updates when we can, as we know a lot of you all cared about this. But for now we’ll focus on measures needed, and give them some space.
Trending in South Korean Twitter right now: '미국놈들' (American bastards/jerks/dudes)
Shows tweets like, 'come on Americans do better this time and not elect Trump again' or general complaints about how confusing exit poll broadcasts are compared to Korean ones