A South Korean panel referred 24 officials to prosecutors to face charges of professional negligence resulting in death over a crowd crush incident at a nightlife district in Seoul last October, which left 158 people dead.
A special police investigative panel said in a report released Friday that officials from the police, local district office, fire department and Seoul metro government failed in their responsibilities to prevent a man-made disaster, which was one of the country’s deadliest civilian incidents in its postwar history.
Six of the officials referred on the most serious charges, including the former chief of police in the Yongsan district of Seoul, where the incident occurred, and the head of the district office, have been arrested. Another 17 were charged without detention, with one of the officials charged having died of an apparent suicide.