Australian survivor of Seoul crush blames ‘mismanagement’

By CHISATO TANAKA
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An Australian survivor of a crowd crush that killed more than 150 partygoers in the South Korean capital of Seoul blamed the huge loss of life on officials’ failure to employ effective crowd controls despite anticipating a massive turnout for the Halloween celebrations. Nathan Taverniti said he’s still grappling with emotional shock after one of his friends died during the tragedy Saturday at the nightlife district of Itaewon. The deaths were concentrated in a narrow, downhill alley running between a dense row of store fronts and the landmark Hamilton Hotel. The path became clogged by a huge and unstoppable wave of partygoers before some of them fell and toppled one another like dominoes, according to witnesses, before suffocating to death.