- At least 151 people died after crowds surged in South Korea on Saturday, according to the BBC.
- The incident occurred during the Halloween celebrations in Seoul, a popular nightlife district.
- Photos show a chaotic scene as emergency responders tried to direct their attention to the crowd.
Photographs and eyewitness testimony have provided devastating details of how the chaos unfolded following a deadly crowd surge at a Halloween festival in Seoul, South Korea.
At least 151 people were killed and 82 injured, according to the BBC. Officials told the news agency that the death toll includes 19 foreigners, and the incident occurred after a large crowd celebrating Halloween squeezed into a narrow alleyway in Itaewon’s nightlife area. rice field.
Pictures from the tragedy show the remains of the victims’ costumes and the chaotic scene of emergency responders trying to draw attention to the crowd, with eyewitnesses describing the mayhem.
bloody and broken costume
Seen at the site of a flood of victims’ belongings during the Halloween festival in Seoul, South Korea on October 30, 2022.
Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
Around 100,000 people gathered in the area, the first large-scale gathering without masks since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the BBC.
Officials told news outlets that most of the victims were teenagers and adults in their 20s.
high school students barely escape
At least 149 people were killed and dozens injured in a crowd at a packed Halloween event in central Seoul late on October 29, officials said.
Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images
A high school student trapped in a crowd with a friend told the New York Times that he narrowly escaped after falling.
Kim So-jung said, “There were people below me and people above me, and I couldn’t breathe. I screamed for help, but the loud music in the alley drowned out our screams. I’m done,” he said.
Kim and her friends were eventually able to crawl out of the crowd, and the adults pulled them into the tavern.
‘It was completely out of control’
A police officer stands at the site of a deadly stampede during the Halloween festival in Seoul, South Korea on October 30, 2022.
Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
Two witnesses told the BBC what happened in the alley looked like a scene from a movie as first responders tried to treat people.
“It was completely out of control,” said one eyewitness.
“It was crowded with too many people,” said another witness.
Rescuers and police gather in Seoul’s Itaewon district after a Halloween riot that killed at least 120 people on October 30, 2022.
Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has declared a period of national mourning that will last until the disaster is over, according to the BBC.
“My heart is heavy and I’m having a hard time coping with the grief,” he said. The president added that he felt he was “responsible for the lives and safety of the people”.
Following the incident, authorities have been advised to conduct an emergency review of all Halloween celebrations and other festivals, according to the BBC.