Lives could have been saved if rescue teams had arrived minutes earlier: Itaewon survivor

“If rescue teams had arrived about 10 minutes earlier, more than 100 lives could have been saved.”

The remark by survivor Min Sung-ho set a somber tone Thursday as a special investigation panel held its first public hearing into the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush.

Speaking at the hearing in central Seoul, Min recalled the moment the crowd surge turned fatal in a narrow alley in the Itaewon nightlife district during Halloween celebrations on Oct. 29, 2022. A total of 159 people were killed.

“My chest was being pressed so hard that I couldn’t breathe,” he said, recalling the disaster. It was clear to him that rescue teams had not arrived quickly enough, he added.

The hearing is the first formal fact-finding session held by the Special Investigation Commission on the Truth of the Oct. 29 Itaewon Disaster and Recurrence Prevention, an independent body created under a special law enacted in 2024 to investigate the tragedy and ensure accountability.

The commission officially launched four months after the law was passed, though the probe itself had been delayed under the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

Thursday’s session, held at the Federation of Korean Banks building in central Seoul, began with testimony from survivors, victims’ families and people who took part in rescue efforts. The hearings will continue through Friday.

The commission plans to question 54 witnesses and 23 reference witnesses, including police, firefighters and local officials.

Among those who testified Thursday was Muhammad Shabbir, a Pakistani nurse who had been visiting South Korea with his brother and helped perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on victims at the scene.

Shabbir told the panel he had been shocked by the apparent lack of emergency personnel in the immediate aftermath of the crush.

“I was surprised that in an advanced country like South Korea there was insufficient safety management and emergency preparedness,” he said.

A number of senior officials who were responsible for disaster management at the time have been called to testify, including former Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min, former National Police Agency Commissioner Yoon Hee-keun, former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief Kim Kwang-ho, acting former National Fire Agency chief Nam Hwa-young, and Park Hee-young, the mayor of Seoul’s Yongsan District.

Former President Yoon, who was also summoned as a witness, declined to attend, citing preparations for his ongoing trial.