Grievers pay their respects at a memorial site located just outside of Itaewon subway station and a few meters away from the main crush site. Photo: Chris Jung/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Steve Blesi said his son (left) “could've done anything in this world and been extremely successful at it and now that's all just shattered and broken in front of us.” Photo: Courtesy of Steve Blesi
“I think something big might happen here,” a caller said at 8:33 p.m.“So many people. They are getting crushed,” the next caller said at 8:53 p.m.The final call came at 10:11 p.m.“I think we are going to get crushed. Everyone is going crazy,” the caller said. The distressed caller’s last words were: “Ah! (screaming) Ah! (screaming) The Itaewon back alleyway. Itaewon back alleyway.”In total, 11 such calls were made prior to the crush. Police said they dispatched officers in response to only four of those, and did not send anyone in the hour leading up to the crush.“I think we are going to get crushed. Everyone is going crazy.”
A view of the deadliest spot in Itaewon last Saturday from the bottom of the sloped alley. Photo: Junhyup Kwon/VICE
Hong Kong’s Lan Kwai Fong nightlife district in 1997. In 1992, a crowd disaster killed 21 people and prompted a review of crowd control methods in the former British colony. Photo: Peter PARKS / AFP
Relatives of missing people gathered at a community service center to see if their loved ones too were lost in the tragedy. Photo: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images


