PROBE INTO ITAEWON DISASTER

[Anchor Lead]

The probe into the crowd crush in Itaewon is gaining speed. The National Police Agency's special investigation headquarters has booked for investigation the head of Yongsang-gu Ward, the former Yongsan Police Station chief and the head of Yongsan Fire Station in relation to the tragedy. They are facing the charges of professional negligence resulting in death. A second on-site investigation has also been conducted.

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Police have first booked for investigation six officials in relation to the deadly Itaewon crowd crush. They are the Yongsan-gu Ward chief Park Hee-young, Yongsan Fire Station chief Choi Seong-beom, and the former Yongsan Police Station chief Lee Im-jae. All those in charge of administration, public security and fire safety in the Itaewon area are now being regarded as suspects. The situation monitoring officer at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Ryu Mi-jin, who was on duty when the tragedy happened but was absent at the time of the crowd crush, has also been booked for investigation. Two senior intelligence officials from the Yongsan Police Station have also been booked for investigation on charges of erasing an intelligence report and attempting to appease an intelligence officer who drew up the report after the Itaewon tragedy. All six are facing charges of professional negligence that resulted in death. The investigators are also looking into whether the Yongsan-gu Ward failed to take proper safety measures to prevent massive fatalities.

[Soundbite] Kim Cheol-min(Democratic Party) : "The Yongsan-gu Ward is primarily responsible for failing to devise safety measures to prevent the disaster."

[Soundbite] Park Hee-young(Yongsan-gu Ward chief) : "We did prepare, but it wasn't enough."

The investigators have insinuated at the possibility of expanding the probe to senior bodies by looking into whether the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Seoul metropolitan government neglected their legal responsibilities. The special investigation headquarters deployed 84 officials on Tuesday morning to raid 55 places including the office of National Police Agency chief Yoon Hee-keun, the Yongsan Police Station and the Yongsan-gu Ward. The investigation into the cause of the deadly stampede is also gaining pace. A second on-site investigation was conducted in Itaewon on Monday. The investigators compared the crowd's movements during the minutes leading up to the tragedy against the geographical and structural characteristics of the area using 3D scanning materials created after the first on-site investigation. They have also analyzed the footage gathered from 157 CCTVs and some 600 confiscated items. Meanwhile, a person who was identified by a specific accessory he wore at the time of the tragedy and was accused by Internet users of causing the crowd crush has been cleared of the charges. Police have also detected two online posts that could constitute libel in relation to the Itaewon disaster, and raided the relevant websites.