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Firefighter who responded to 2022 crowd crush goes missing

Published: 17 Aug. 2025, 16:36 Updated: 17 Aug. 2025, 20:01

A firefighter who went missing on Aug. 10 [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A firefighter who responded to the Itaewon crowd crush in 2022 has been missing for more than a week. Police and authorities have been searching since Sunday, Aug. 10.

The Incheon Fire Department said Sunday that the 34-year-old firefighter left a note saying he was “sorry” to family and friends before disappearing on Aug. 10.

His last confirmed sighting was around 2:30 a.m. that day at the Nam Incheon Tollgate. After passing through the tollgate, he parked his car on the right shoulder of the road and vanished. His phone's last known signal was traced to an area near an apartment complex in Seochang-dong, Namdong District.

Authorities have been searching for the missing firefighter since the report was filed, but no significant progress has been made. His family has been distributing flyers in an effort to locate him.

In a past interview, the firefighter recalled, “It was unbearable placing the deceased in the black zone,” and added, “My parents found it difficult just knowing I had been there — I can only imagine how the victims’ parents felt. I remember thinking, ‘I wish this weren’t real.’”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HONG JOO-HEE [[email protected]]