South Korea: Mysterious death of a police officer accused of the deadly stampede in Seoul

A South Korean police official who was under investigation for the fatal trampling on his day Halloween at Seoulon October 29, was found dead at his home today, Yonhap news agency reported.

They were killed in the accident in Itewon district 156 people and 198 were injured – mostly people in their 20s and 30s.

The official, who was released only by his last name, Jeong, was the head of the intelligence division at the Yongsan Police Station, which includes Itewon.

The 55-year-old senior police officer was found dead at his home in Seoul by a family member around 12:45 p.m., Yonhap reported, citing unnamed police officials.

After an investigation was launched into the police’s handling of the accident, Jeong was accused of deleting intelligence reports warning of a serious accident.

MPs criticized the alleged deletion of the documents during a session of parliament on Monday and called for the arrest and punishment of those responsible.

National Police Commissioner Yoon Hee-keun told lawmakers that the head of the intelligence division at the Yongsan police station had requested the records be deleted and that he would be investigated.

The police have been heavily criticized for their response during the tragedy as they sent just 137 officers to the area despite early estimates that up to 100,000 people would gather at the crash site.

Read Related: Seoul: Police chief admits ‘lack of measures’ at stampede site

Last week it was revealed that a number of emergency calls, made before the crash, had warned the public about the possible trampling and called for the authorities to intervene immediately.

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