2023-10-28 11:12:02
◀ Anchor ▶
Of the 159 victims of the October 29 Itaewon disaster, 26 were foreigners.
As regarding one out of six people was a foreigner, the damage was not small.
MBC met with foreign survivors who barely survived and are suffering from those memories.
They were also excluded from government support such as psychological treatment.
I was still asking the Korean government how on earth something like that might have happened.
Reporter Son Gu-min covered the story.
◀ Report ▶
Mr. Wakzala, an Ethiopian who came to Korea 10 years ago, is the son of a Korean War veteran.
I was in Itaewon on the evening of October 29th last year.
[왁잘라/에티오피아인]
″There were a lot of people. I was confused as to what was happening, and then an ambulance arrived.″
I vividly remember pulling people out of the crowd and performing CPR on them.
[왁잘라/에티오피아인]
″(The rescue team) tried to wake her up by giving electric shocks, but eventually her face darkened and her body became cold.″
Two people were barely saved, but the third woman died next to him, and her mother, whom she met at the incense burner, is said to have hugged Wakjala tightly.
[왁잘라/에티오피아인]
“You asked what my daughter’s last words were. <아무 말도 못 했군요?> Because she didn’t say anything. It was a very difficult question for me.″
I mightn’t sleep well and finally found peace, but as Halloween approached, I kept remembering it once more.
I had no idea that the Korean government supported psychological treatment.
[왁잘라/에티오피아인]
″I don’t know anything (regarding support). (The Korean government) did nothing for me.″
Wassim Essenabe, a Belgian international student, lost his American friend that day.
[와심/벨기에인]
″There was only one friend I didn’t hear from in the end.″
He, who wanted to confide in someone, also never received any guidance from the government for psychological treatment.
[와심/벨기에인]
″I mightn’t sleep properly for regarding two weeks (following the disaster)… I still remember the emotions of that night.″
Of the 7,108 psychological counseling cases at the National Trauma Center, only 134, or 1.8%, were foreigners.
Foreign survivors who were excluded from support were also asking the same questions.
[와심/벨기에인]
“If traffic had been controlled, more people would have been able to get out on the road and have room to move. Why didn’t you consider it?″
This is Son Gu-min from MBC News.
Video coverage: Jang Young-geun / Video editing: Lee Hwa-young / Data provided by: Justice Party lawmaker Jang Hye-young’s office
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