MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2022) South Korea's ruling conservatives agreed Wednesday to take part in a cross-party inquiry into the Halloween crowd crush after the opposition threatened to go ahead alone, media said.
At least 158 people were crushed to death in Seoul on October 29 after thousands headed into a narrow street in a popular nightlife district to celebrate Halloween. Police admitted having been warned about the dangerous crowd surge in the Itaewon neighborhood hours before it became deadly.
The opposition Democratic Party and two minor parties called for a probe into public agencies responsible for crowd control, but the conservative People Power Party said initially it would back a parliamentary probe if the ongoing police investigation fell short, Yonhap news agency reported.
The governing party eventually agreed to endorse the cross-party investigation after the Democratic Party said it would vote on the next year's budget bill.
The Democrats will head an 18-member special parliamentary committee that will oversee a 45-day probe into the country's deadliest tragedy since the Sewol ferry sinking killed 304 people in 2014. The presidential and prime minister's offices will both be subject to the probe.
