<Anchor> The



police special investigation headquarters, which has been investigating the Itaewon disaster, announced the results of an investigation that the cause of the accident was that people crowded in a narrow alley were tangled up and swept away.

Although six people, including the former chief of the Yongsan Police Station, were arrested and indicted, it is pointed out that Minister of Public Administration and Security Lee Sang-min and others were acquitted, revealing the limits of accountability at the top.



This is Reporter Kim Hyung-rae.



<Reporter>



10:11 pm on October 29th, 4 minutes before the disaster.



On the Itaewon World Food Culture Street, crowds of people were tangled and pushed around.



The special edition described this scene as a 'crowd fluidization' phenomenon.



It is said that as the crowds were excessively close together, individuals could not move on their own, and they swayed in one mass like water.



Three minutes later, the crowds that were caught in this way came to an alley with a maximum slope of 11 degrees and were pushed down at high speed.



From 10:15:24 p.m., people fell 4 times in 15 seconds, and the upper crowd continued to push down, resulting in a disaster in which hundreds of people were piled on top of each other.



[Son Je-han/Chief of Police Special Investigation Headquarters: The crowd continued to push behind the people who fell, and they were evangelized sequentially...

.]



When there are more than 7 people per square meter, this 'fluidization' phenomenon occurs, and it was analyzed that the density of the accident alley reached a maximum of 11 people at the time of the disaster.



It was estimated that the force applied per person reached a maximum of 560 kg in terms of weight.



The two-way traffic of the accident alley and illegal structures were also pointed out as factors that increased the damage.



The special version arrested and indicted a total of six people, including Lee Im-jae, former chief of Yongsan Police Station, and Park Hee-young, head of Yongsan-gu.



However, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Kim Gwang-ho was sent without detention, and Minister of Public Administration and Security Lee Sang-min, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, and National Police Agency Commissioner General Yoon Hee-geun were acquitted, saying that they could not be held legally responsible. 



It is inevitable that the evaluation that the 74-day investigation's blade was only aimed at the working-level staff was inevitable.