‘VERY DANGEROUS’
“People are falling down on the streets, looks like there could be an accident, it looks very dangerous,” another caller said at 8:33pm, according to the police transcript.
The latest call released by the police came at 10:11pm, minutes before people packed into one particularly narrow and sloping alley began to fall over each other shortly before 10:30pm.
“(People) will get crushed to death here. It’s chaotic,” the transcript of that call says, noting that screams were heard over the phone.
Police went to the scene for four out of the 11 calls, a police official told reporters. It was not immediately clear why they did not deploy officials on the other calls or what safety measures they took after arriving.
“Those things are all under inspection now, so it’s difficult for me to answer at this point,” a National Police Agency official said when asked by Reuters about responding to four calls.
The official did not elaborate on the contents of the transcripts.
“The police will speedily and rigorously conduct intensive inspections and investigation on all aspects without exception to explain the truth of this accident,” police commissioner Yoon told a news conference earlier.