{"id":11995,"date":"2026-10-28T10:19:53","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T10:19:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=11995"},"modified":"2026-10-28T10:19:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T10:19:53","slug":"44-minutes-before-rescuers-reached-her-families-view-footage-of-foreign-itaewon-victims-last-moments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=11995","title":{"rendered":"’44 minutes before rescuers reached her’: Families view footage of foreign Itaewon victims’ last moments"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Families of foreign victims of the Itaewon crowd crush attend a press conference at the House of Stars in the Jeokseon Hyundai Building in Jongno District, Seoul, Wednesday, the day before the disaster\u2019s fourth anniversary. Yonhap<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Families of foreign victims of the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush watched second-by-second footage of their loved ones\u2019 final moments and said the recordings showed too few police officers at the scene and a rescue response that came too late. <\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday was a difficult day for me. I watched my sister\u2019s final moments, where she walked and how she died,\u201d Damira Sherniyazova, who traveled from Kazakhstan, said during a press conference in Seoul Wednesday. Her sister, Madina, was among the 26 foreign nationals killed in the crowd crush that claimed 159 lives in a narrow Seoul alley four years ago. <\/p>\n

A total of 35 members of 18 families across 10 countries arrived in Korea at the government\u2019s invitation starting Friday to mark the fourth anniversary of the tragedy. During closed-door meetings with individual families on Wednesday, the special investigation commission presented footage showing each victim\u2019s movements prior to the disaster, their final moments and rescue attempts. The footage drew on some 1,000 videos the commission had collected, including CCTV and firefighters\u2019 body camera recordings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were shown photos and footage of my sister, minute by minute, second by second. At first, she was walking normally, smiling and happy. Then, suddenly, she was swept along by the crowd,\u201d Sherniyazova said. \u201cIt took 44 minutes before rescuers reached her. That is a very long time to wait without oxygen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pascal Guenego, a French national whose son, Limamou Laye Guenego, died in the crush, said the footage confirmed what many families long suspected: There were too few police officers at the scene and civilians \u2014 not emergency responders \u2014 were the first to perform CPR. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a terrible and emotional experience, seeing my son\u2019s death. But we came to understand how the incident happened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, the grief of viewing the footage was accompanied by frustration as family members said the investigation had made little progress. Their concerns centered on the commission’s failure to reach firm conclusions and its repetition of the same updates it had offered a year earlier, when foreign families were first invited to Korea.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought last year would be my last trip to Seoul. I was told the investigation would be finished by the end of the summer of 2026,\u201d said Susanne Rosholmen Roalkvam, a Norwegian woman who lost her daughter. \u201cI cannot understand what is going on in Seoul, which is why we returned.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guenego added, \u201cWe kept hearing the same vague statements over and over: that the commission\u2019s mandate had been extended by a year, that nothing had been firmly established and that they were working on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commission\u2019s mandate, originally due to expire on Oct. 16, was extended to Sept. 16, 2027. At an interim briefing Tuesday, the commission outlined gaps in police deployment and failures in the disaster response command system. The commission announced it would investigate the former interior minister and former President Yoon Suk Yeol within this year. <\/p>\n

For Iranian mother Hajar Jalal Far, who lost her son Ali Parakand, the visit marked her fourth trip to Korea. She said the promises made during her previous visit rang hollow. <\/p>\n

“When we came to Korea last year with help from civic groups, the president promised a thorough investigation and justice and the special investigation commission had been launched. The National Assembly speaker also promised to uncover the truth,” she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut before coming to Korea this time, we were shocked by news from the court. Even audio recordings of calls to the police\u2019s emergency hotline had not been submitted to the court … How can we, the bereaved families, expect truth and justice?”<\/p>\n

Families also reported experiencing a persistent information gap. When asked whether any of them had been contacted by their embassies or the Korean government since last year\u2019s visit, none raised a hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain cut off from information and left in the dark,\u201d Jalal Far said. \u201cWe cannot spend all our time searching for what is happening in Korea.\u201d <\/p>\n

Although the former Yongsan police chief and the district chief are on trial, families and relatives said those responsible for failures in the initial response \u2014 including the delayed arrival of rescue crews and the absence of crowd control \u2014 must also face consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to know, name by name, who is responsible,\u201d Sherniyazova said. <\/p>\n

Despite their frustration, several family members expressed gratitude toward the commission\u2019s investigators and the Korean civilians who tried to save lives that night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw the young man who gave my son CPR,\u201d said Penda Diallo, the mother of the French victim Guenego. “I thank him for trying until the very end.”<\/p>\n

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Families of foreign victims of the Itaewon crowd crush attend a press conference at the House of Stars in the Jeokseon Hyundai Building in Jongno District, Seoul, Wednesday, the day before the disaster\u2019s fourth anniversary. Yonhap Families of foreign victims of the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush watched second-by-second footage of their loved ones\u2019 final moments…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-korea"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t