On Saturday, scenes of chaos and panic erupted in Seoul, South Korea’s capital, as a massive stampede broke out during the city’s first Halloween event in three years, killing 151 people and injuring dozens. The incident occurred in Seoul’s Itaewon district when partygoers dressed in masks and Halloween costumes surged into a narrow alley in a nightlife district.
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Grim footage from the scene of the incident was captured in a video tweeted by allkpop, a local media company that primarily covers K-pop or Korean pop news. The video showed people lying on the road unconscious as rescue/fire personnel pressed on their chests to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in an attempt to resuscitate them. According to reports, some people suffered cardiac arrest as a result of the incident.
[Breaking] Nightmare in #Itaewon. Current status is that over 50 people have collapsed and possible multiple fatalities due to overcrowding during the Halloween festivities. Stay tuned for more info. pic.twitter.com/NhvVqnHlkl
— allkpop (@allkpop) October 29, 2022
As many as 100,000 people celebrated Halloween in Itaewon, a popular nightlife district in central Seoul. Before the city imposed coronavirus restrictions two years ago, the holiday had long been a neighborhood favorite, and young people flocked to parties on Saturday night.
By Sunday morning, costumed revellers had fled a scene littered with the bodies of young revellers, as chaos and confusion reigned. Officials said at news conferences that they had no idea what caused the crush or how the annual festival had devolved so quickly into the country’s worst peacetime tragedy since 2014.
As of 4 a.m. Sunday, Kim Geun-jin, a division commander for the Seoul police, said little could be reported about the disaster’s cause because “identifying the victims is our top priority.” “Our forensic teams are focused on identifying victims and collecting evidence from the scene,” he added.
According to the Associated Press, up to 150 people were injured in what was South Korea’s worst disaster in years, where an estimated 100,000 people had gathered for the festivities. According to local news outlet Yonhap, citing authorities, the majority of the victims are in their twenties, and officials fear the death toll will rise further. According to South Korea’s fire department, 19 foreigners were among those killed.
#SouthKorea | Morning visuals from the spot of the deadly stampede in Seoul that broke out during Halloween festivities yesterday leaving 149 dead and injuring scores of people till now
(Source: Reuters) pic.twitter.com/9REYUhFJKl
— ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2022
