Hundreds of young party-goers were crushed, and over 154 were killed in a crowd crush during a Halloween celebration in Itaewon, South Korea.
Here’s What We Know
Over 100,000 people went to Itaewon to celebrate Halloween in the city of Seoul, South Korea, on October 29th. This is the first time in three years that large celebrations could take place.
Currently, it is reported that 156 people are dead, mainly in the age range of late teens and ’20s. So far, over 100 have been injured. Nineteen people have been identified as foreign nationals from countries like the U.S., Iran, China, Sri Lanka, Russia, France, Vietnam, Norway, and Thailand.
The occurrence took place on a sloped road. About ten people who died have yet to be identified.
Most people that were sent to the hospitals were dead upon arrival.
According to the party-goers, rumors spread as people were trying to understand the cause of the stampede, with some saying that “some celebrity” was coming while others wondered whether or not there was an explosion or a bomb.
26-year-old Osman Karakan told The Korea Times that he saw dead people lying in the street and others trying to help those who became unconscious during the chaos.
“I was here with my friends from around 9 p.m. The alley was so crowded that we thought it could be dangerous, so we took shelter at a club nearby. When we got out of there around 10:30 p.m., dead people were lying in the street and many people were doing CPR on them,” said Karakan, who the club owner later asked to help move bodies in the street.
Videos From Crowd Crush *Sensitive*
This video shows some Halloween goers being helped by first responders and citizen volunteers who gave CPR in hopes to save their lives.
Viewer discretion is advised.
In this sensitive video, you can see people are extremely uncomfortable and in pain.
Here you can see people from the crowd trying to be pulled out.
In another angle:
The suffering from crowd crush is seen on their faces.
A Country in Mourning
Normally the Halloween festivities are not hosted or organized by any particular business or program, so no safety manuals were submitted for the evening ‘event’. There was a meeting among the local county government to discuss Halloween, but the conversation only included COVID measures.
President Yoon has declared a national mourning period through Nov. 5. World leaders expressed their condolences, and concerts and music releases have been postponed.
“Following the president’s directive, the government has decided to observe a national mourning period until midnight of Nov. 5, during which the nation will mourn the perished,” South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said, according to The Korea Herald.
During the mourning period, all government offices and overseas missions will lower their flags to half-staff and cancel or postpone nonessential public events.
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