A firefighter who had been suffering from depression after the deadly crowd crush in the nightlife district of Itaewon was found dead on the 20th, the 10th day since he went missing.
According to the police, at about 12:30 p.m. that day, a police officer found A, 30, a member of a fire station in Incheon, dead under Geumui 2 Bridge on the Metropolitan Area 1st Circular Expressway in Geumidong, Siheung, Gyeonggi Province. A's body was reported to be in an advanced state of decomposition.
It is not known whether there were any signs of homicide.
On the 10th at about 2:30 a.m., A parked his car on the shoulder near the Nam Incheon tollgate on the 2nd Gyeongin Expressway and then disappeared, and A's cell phone was found nearby. A was deployed to rescue operations at the scene of the deadly crowd crush in the nightlife district of Itaewon in 2022, and it was determined that he received psychological treatment and counseling supported by the National Fire Agency and the Incheon Fire Headquarters nine times through December of that year. Afterwards, he received counseling supported by the Incheon Fire Headquarters three times in 2023, 2024 and this year.
The police plan to recover A's body and investigate the detailed circumstances of his death.
※ If you have difficult concerns that are hard to talk about, such as depression, or if you have family or acquaintances who are experiencing such difficulties, you can receive 24-hour professional counseling at the suicide prevention hotline ☎1393, mental health counseling ☎1577-0199, Hope Line ☎129, Lifeline ☎1588-9191, and youth helpline ☎1388.