South Korea crowd crush: Seoul police chief charged over Halloween disaster in which 158 died

Kim Kwang-ho accused of negligence in failing to ‘take necessary measures’ to prevent 2022 disaster in capital’s Itaewon nightlife district

Seoul’s chief of police has been charged with professional negligence over the deadly Halloween crush in 2022 that killed nearly 160 people, prosecutors in the South Korean capital have said.

Kim Kwang-ho, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA), was charged with professional negligence resulting in injury or death, Seoul’s western district prosecutors’ office said in a statement released on Friday.