Anger grows over deadly Halloween crowd crush

South Korea was in mourning as an investigation opened into the deaths of more than 150 people, mostly young adults, when a huge Halloween party crowd surged into a narrow alley in Seoul.

- Raphael Rashid

The prime minister, Han Duck-soo, called last Saturday's deadly crush a "disastrous accident that should not have happened", as the first memorial services were held amid growing public anger.

Expressing sorrow to bereaved families, he admitted that institutional failures in managing crowds played a role in the disaster, and said the government would work with ministries, agencies and medical institutions to ensure such problems during spontaneous events never happened again.

The country's police chief has apologised for the emergency response to the deadly crush. Yoon Hee-keun said: "We've judged that the response to the emergency calls was inadequate," noting the large number of calls placed before the disaster unfolded.

The death toll from the crowd crush during Halloween celebrations in the nightlife district of Itaewon rose to 156 on Tuesday, amid public anger over what some have called a "man-made disaster".