Tributes pour in for Seoul stampede victims

Chinese Ambassador to South Korea, Xing Haiming, also paying tribute to the victims at the altar in Seoul Plaza, said the stampede was an extremely unfortunate incident. China is working with the South Korean government in an all-out effort to assist Chinese citizens caught up in the tragedy, Xing added. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has warned Chinese citizens overseas to avoid crowded places and seek immediate help from local police and Chinese embassies in cases of emergency.

Yoon said the South Korean government should come up with a crowd control system for unorganized and spontaneous events.

Yonhap News Agency quoted deputy presidential spokesman Lee Jae-myoung as saying, "President Yoon said ahead of discussions that he feels an indescribable sadness as the president responsible for people's lives and safety when he thinks of the victims and their families.

"In particular, he once again expressed his grief that so many people at such a tender age were struck by tragedy before they even had a chance to pursue their dreams."

With an investigation into the cause of the accident ongoing, South Korea's ruling People Power Party pledged on Tuesday to push for a review of the disaster and the safety law to bolster supervision of unorganized events.

Yeom Gun-woong, professor in the police and fire administration department at U1 University in South Korea, told YTN news, " (For other type of events) the organizers could be punished under the law (for mismanagement), but it is difficult for someone to take the blame for Saturday's tragedy, as this was a spontaneous event, with no organizer."

The accident was caused by people in the crowds walking through an alley being pushed against each other, making it difficult to determine who was responsible, Yeom said.

Lee Young-ju, a professor in the fire and disaster department at the University of Seoul, said the Halloween gathering in Itaewon was a district event without a specific organizer, and as a result there was a lack of safety control.

"This disaster could have been controlled or prevented, but this was not taken care of, with no one taking responsibility in the first place," Lee said.