At least 90% of the victims had been identified by noon – The dead include 22 foreigners – Shocking details from eyewitnesses
Shocked relatives receive bodies, parents search for their children and a whole country is looking for answers, after the death of at least 153 people who were trampled when a huge crowd gathered on a narrow street in Seoul to celebrate Halloween.
South Korean President Yun Suk-yeol declared national mourning and labeled the popular Itaewon district a “disaster zone”.
“The news came like a bolt from a clear sky,” said a father, breaking down in tears as he collected his daughter’s body from a mortuary in the capital.
🇰🇷 NUIT D’HORREUR IN SÉOUL : 120 people are dead by suffocation and hundreds injured in a terrible crowd movement #Seoul lors des festivités d’Halloween. Les pompiers ont réalisé des dizaines de massages cardiacas. pic.twitter.com/f3oWJ3binQ
— Infos Françaises (@InfosFrançaises) October 29, 2022
Most of the victims were young people aged 20-30 years. Emergency services warned that the death toll could rise.
Young people, many of them teenagers and dressed in carnival costumes, were ready to celebrate Halloween in the bars, nightclubs and restaurants of this bustling district, where parties often continue in the narrow and uphill narrow side streets. But this time the street was filled with people desperately calling for help. The rescuers tried in every way to free the trapped bodies and give first aid to people who were lying gasping on the ground.
Choi Sung-beom, the chief of the Yongsan Fire Department, told reporters at a brief briefing on the scene that 82 people were injured, 19 of them seriously. The dead include 22 foreigners.
Families and friends searched for news of their loved ones in community centers that were turned into search facilities for the missing. At least 90% of the victims had been identified by midday. However, the recognition of foreigners and some teenagers who did not have identity cards is delayed, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
At the point of tragedy, passers-by started leaving flowers and notes in memory of the victims.
President Yun expressed his condolences to the relatives of the victims and wished the injured a speedy recovery. “It’s really tragic,” the president said in a televised speech, underlining that it was “a tragedy and a disaster that should not have happened in the heart of Seoul last night.” He also assured that the government will thoroughly investigate the causes “to ensure that such an accident does not happen again in the future”.
Scenes of chaos and panic
adults, South Korean tech and video game companies such as Kakao and NCSOFT have pulled their Halloween ad campaigns after the tragedy. Everland theme park has canceled all scheduled events with this theme. Many municipalities and organizations have canceled or scaled back festivals and other events they were going to hold.
The tragedy occurred as Itaewon, a symbol of Seoul’s frenzied nightlife for decades, was beginning to flourish again after two years of restrictions due to the pandemic. Modern restaurants and shops gradually replaced the old, shabby spaces.
This is scary. Me alegro que el que grabó este bien y mis dolencias para las familias que perdireon a alguien.#Seoul #ITAEWONHALLOWEEN #ItaewonStampede #itaewon pic.twitter.com/Pgvw45k7x5
— Olga💜 (@81stock_) October 30, 2022
This would be the first Halloween party in Seoul in three years with virtually no Covid-19 restrictions – social distancing was no longer in effect. Many of the revelers wore masks and carnival costumes.
Twenty-four hours earlier, however, there were already warning signs that the celebration was attracting a dangerously high number of people. Victims and their relatives speak of apparent lapses in crowd control.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, uniforms and personal belongings were strewn along the narrow road amid bloodstains. Survivors, wrapped in blankets, hugged each other among rescuers, police and journalists.
Many of those killed were near a nightclub, Choi said. The victims included Chinese, Iranians, Uzbeks and Norwegians, he added.
Eyewitnesses described how the crowd grew increasingly unruly as the evening progressed. Chaos broke out before 10.20pm local time when people started being trampled. The police had a hard time controlling the crowd.
Rien que de voir cette vidéo, je manque de souffle et je sens ma cage thoracicique se compresse! 😨 #Seoul #Itaewon pic.twitter.com/ZjpalqtpdS
— Kunta van den Kinté (@denkinte_2) October 29, 2022
Moon Joo-young, 21, said there were clear signs of trouble in the alley before the incident. He told Reuters that the number of people gathered was ten times the usual.
Videos posted on social media sites show hundreds of people crammed into the narrow, steep road.
Makeshift morgue
Fire officials and eyewitnesses said people continued to reach the road, even when it was full, “wall to wall” and when those at the top of the ramp fell, they swept away those below.
People were falling “like dominoes,” a US soldier, Jarmile Taylor, 40, who was with two colleagues in the area and tried to help the victims, told AFP.
One woman said her daughter survived after being trapped for at least an hour.
🇰🇷Güney Kore Seoulde sözleri sekuriğan anları takaren bir Türk citizenının sözleri?
“Güney Kore argada büyül bir şey yoktur..Her taraf ceset, her taraf”#Seoul #SouthKorea #Halloween #Güneykore #CadillarBayramı #Seoul pic.twitter.com/iF9LlmXYEO
— MAVERA (@maveranews) October 29, 2022
A makeshift morgue was set up in a building next to the scene of the tragedy. About ten bodies were taken on stretchers from there to a public facility where victims were identified, an eyewitness told Reuters.
“The nightclubs around here were full of people lying on the floor,” Jarmill continued.
According to the description of the three American soldiers, those at the back of the road could not see what was happening ahead. “We were shouting for them to back off, but it was already too late,” the soldier said.
The three Americans feel lucky to have survived. “When we left, there were bodies everywhere, everywhere…”
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I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
