South Korea opens investigation into deadly Itaewon crowd crush in Seoul

South Korean authorities have opened an investigation into the deaths of more than 150 people, in a crush in a nightlife district in Seoul on Saturday as experts said crowd controls could have reduced the surge that led to the disaster.

The South Korean prime minister, Han Duck-soo, has promised a thorough investigation and authorities said they were focused on reconstructing the chain of events leading up to the surge and were looking at whether anyone may have been responsible for triggering the crush.

On Monday afternoon, dozens of crime scene investigators and forensics officers descended on to the rubbish-strewn alleys. which were eerily quiet with many shops and cafes closed.

Earlier in the day, people laid white chrysanthemums, drinks and candles at a small makeshift altar off an exit of the Itaewon subway station, a few steps away from the site of the crush. Another memorial for the victims was set up at Seoul cityhall plaza, with others set up across the country.

Calls for accountability have grown in the press and online after witnesses reported seeing a relatively small number of police on the streets in relation to the size of the crowds.

Police said at a briefing on Monday they had deployed 137 officers to the event, pointing out that number was significantly higher than previous years. But local reports said most police deployed were focused on drug use and traffic control, rather than crowd control.

Hong Ki-hyeon, a senior official with the national police agency, acknowledged the problem during a news conference on Monday, saying police did not have an established way to deal with such gatherings.

Most shops and cafes nearby were closed on Monday, and police cordoned off the site of the incident, which was strewn with rubbish. Schools, kindergartens and companies around the country scrapped planned Halloween events. K-pop concerts and government briefings were also cancelled.

Online, claims also spread that police were not actively managing the crowd, which allowed too many people to congregate around the subway station and in the alleyway at the centre of the disaster.

Witnesses said many people appeared not to realise the disaster that was unfolding steps away from them. Some clad in Halloween costumes continued to sing and dance nearby as others lay lifeless on the ground.

Ken Fallas, a Costa Rican architect who went to Itaewon with expat friends, used his smartphone to film video showing unconscious people being carried out from the alley as others shouted for help. He said the loud music made things more chaotic.

More than 25 of the dead were foreigners from the US, China, Australia, Russia, Iran and elsewhere.

The bodies of the dead were being kept at 42 hospitals in Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi province, according to Seoul City, which said it would instruct crematories to carry out more cremations each day as part of plans to support funeral proceedings.