SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean officials are facing tough questions about preparations for Halloween celebrations and demands for accountability after a crowd surge at the festivities left more than 150 people dead. Seoul police assigned 137 officers to manage a crowd anticipated to number over 100,000 over the weekend. By comparison, nearly 7,000 police officers were sent to another part of the South Korean capital on Saturday to monitor dueling protests that drew tens of thousands — but still fewer people than flocked to the popular nightlife district the same night. Even the task force created to investigate why the crowd surged is more three times larger than the detail assigned to crowd control. The national government has insisted there was no way to predict the crowd would get out of control.
‘Manmade disaster’: Officials criticized over Seoul deaths
