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In South Korea’s worst disaster in years, a crowd of mostly young people celebrating Halloween in Seoul became trapped and crushed as the crowd surged into a narrow alley, killing at least 151 people and injuring 82 others.
On Saturday night, emergency personnel and pedestrians desperately performed CPR on people lying in the streets following the crush in the capital’s nightlife district of Itaewon.
According to Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul’s Yongsan fire department, those killed or injured were mostly teenagers and people in their twenties.
According to him, the dead included 19 foreigners whose nationalities were not immediately released. Because 19 of those injured were in critical condition, the death toll could rise even higher.
An estimated 100,000 people had gathered in Itaewon for the country’s largest outdoor Halloween celebrations since the pandemic began, and strict gathering rules had been imposed.
The South Korean government relaxed COVID-19 restrictions in recent months, and this was many young people’s first big chance to get out and party.
While Halloween is not a traditional holiday in South Korea, where children rarely go trick-or-treating, it remains a major attraction for young adults, with costume parties at bars and clubs becoming increasingly popular in recent years.
Itaewon, near where the former US military headquarters in South Korea operated before moving out of the capital in 2018, is an expat-friendly district known for its trendy bars, clubs, and restaurants and it’s the city’s marquee Halloween destination.
Officials initially stated that 150 people had been injured as of Sunday morning, but later revised their figure.
Officials with the National Fire Agency did not immediately explain why the tally was reduced, but stated that as rescue operations progressed, emergency workers would have had a more accurate idea of the casualties, and some of the injured would have been converted to deaths.
It was also possible that some of those who had suffered minor injuries had returned home and were no longer counted.
On Sunday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared a national mourning period and ordered that flags at government buildings and public offices be flown at half-staff.
Yoon stated during a televised speech that he is supporting the victims’ families, including funeral arrangements and treatment of the injured would be a top priority for his government.
He also urged officials to thoroughly investigate the accident’s cause and to review the safety of other large cultural and entertainment events, including regional festivals, to ensure that they go off without incident.
This is absolutely devastating. Yoon said during his speech that the tragedy and disaster should not have happened in the heart of Seoul during Halloween (celebrations).
As a president responsible for the lives and safety of the people, I am overcome with sadness.
Yoon went to the Itaewon alley where the disaster occurred after the speech. Yoon was seen inspecting the trash-filled alley while being briefed by emergency personnel on local television.
It was unclear what prompted the crowd to rush into the narrow downhill alley near the Hamilton Hotel, a major party spot in Seoul.
According to one survivor, many people fell and toppled one another like dominoes after being pushed by others.
According to the Seoul-based Hankyoreh newspaper, the survivor, Kim, said they were trapped for about an hour and a half before being rescued, while some people shouted Help me! and others were out of breath.
According to the newspaper, another survivor, Lee Chang-kyu, saw about five to six men push others before one or two fell.
Hwang Min-hyeok, a visitor to Itaewon, told news channel YTN that seeing rows of bodies near the hotel was shocking.
He claimed that initially, emergency personnel were overwhelmed, leaving pedestrians struggling to provide CPR to the injured lying on the streets. People wept beside the bodies of their friends, he said.
Another survivor in his twenties said he avoided being trampled by getting into a bar whose door was open in the alley, according to Yonhap news agency.
A woman in her twenties named Park told Yonhap that she and others were standing along the alley’s edge, while those caught in the middle had no way out.
Choi, the fire chief, stated that bodies were being transported to hospitals or a gym so that bereaved family members could identify them. He stated that the majority of those killed and injured are in their twenties.
Tonight’s news from Seoul is dreadful “Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister, tweeted. “At this difficult time, our thoughts are with those who are responding as well as all South Koreans.
It was Asia’s second major crushing disaster in less than a month. On October 1, police in Indonesia fired tear gas at a soccer match, causing a crush that killed 132 people as spectators fled.
More than 1,700 response personnel from across the country, including 520 firefighters, 1,100 police officers, and 70 government workers, were deployed to the streets to assist the injured.
Separately, the National Fire Agency stated that officials were still attempting to determine the exact number of emergency patients.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a statement urging officials to ensure that those injured receive prompt medical attention and that the safety of the celebration sites be reviewed.
This was South Korea’s deadliest crushing disaster in its history. In 2005, 11 people were killed and around 60 others were injured at a pop concert in the southern city of Sangju.
Source:BS
