The police investigative team probing the Itaewon crowd crush on Tuesday referred Yongsan District chief Park Hee-young and other district officials to the prosecution for their roles in the tragedy.
The Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office was sent the cases of Park and Choi Won-jun, the head of Yongsan District’s safety and disaster unit. Both were arrested on charges of occupational negligence resulting in death.
Yoo Seung-jae, the district’s deputy chief, and Moon In-hwan, the head of the office’s safety, construction and transportation division, were also referred for indictment without detention.
All four officials face accusations of neglecting to take precautionary measures ahead of the Halloween festivities and causing more fatalities through their mishandling of the emergency response.
Investigators are soon expected to decide whether to seek an arrest warrant for Choi Seong-beom, the Yongsan fire chief, after the prosecution declined to pursue his arrest last week.
The special team also plans to complete a legal review this week to determine whether to seek arrest warrants for higher-ups within the police, including Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief Kim Kwang-ho.
Source: KBS World Radio