Memorial altar for some victims of Itaewon crowd crush opens Wednesday

Visitors and media personnel are seen at the memorial altar opened at Itaewon Plaza in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

A memorial altar was opened Wednesday for the victims of the Itaewon crowd crush that took place on Oct. 29.

A civic group formed by the bereaved families of victims and the Oct. 29 Itaewon Disaster Countermeasures Organization of Daejeon installed the altar at Itaewon Plaza in Yongsan District, central Seoul.

The altar features photos and mortuary tablets of 77 of the 158 victims. Some families of the victims asked not to be included.

Reports say the countermeasures organization was concerned that the joint memorial installed by the government had included all the victims without getting consent from the bereaved families.

“From now on, we are going to start respecting the wishes of the bereaved and commemorate the victims in this way,” the organization said.

Visitors can start paying their respects at the memorial altar from Wednesday afternoon.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]