Witnesses reported a chaotic scene of partyers — as many as 100,000, by some estimates — massed into just a few blocks close to the Itaewon subway station. The realm of eating places and bars is fashionable with younger individuals and overseas vacationers.
Lots of the victims have been of their 20s and 30s, although some have been teenagers, hearth officers stated. They included each Koreans and foreigners. Nineteen foreigners have been among the many useless.
On one avenue, as contained chaos swirled round them, pairs of younger individuals desperately carried out CPR on individuals mendacity on the pavement.
What wasn’t evident as of early Sunday morning was a precipitating occasion, if there was one. Whereas there have been rumors circulating, no experiences surfaced instantly of one thing setting off a surge of individuals someplace within the neighborhood.
Emergency companies businesses began receiving dozens of frantic cellphone calls about 10:30 p.m. native time, in line with native media experiences, all reporting victims in respiratory bother or cardiac misery. Some 50 minutes later, the experiences stated, the fireplace division upgraded the seriousness of the incident, dispatching some 2,400 emergency responders and an estimated 142 ambulances.
The density of the gang was such that individuals stored getting pressed nearer and nearer collectively, a scenario worsened by the truth that some have been nonetheless partying within the streets whereas others have been pouring out of bars and golf equipment to go house.
“As individuals within the entrance fell over, these within the again have been crushed,” a witness advised Yonhap Information Company.
Quickly, our bodies lined in blue blankets have been arrayed on the pavement with bewildered and confused onlookers wandering round of their midst.
Individuals who an hour earlier had been celebrating have been weeping and overlaying their faces in horror, movies and nonetheless photographs from the scene confirmed. Many have been costumed in all method of garb, from flashy occasion garments to garish Halloween costumes.
About 45 individuals died on the scene, and the remainder died in hospitals, a neighborhood official stated at a information convention.
As experiences turned extra critical, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol referred to as on “all associated ministries and businesses” to come back to the help of the injured. He ordered a right away investigation, to be headed by the nation’s prime minister.
Itaewon is a colourful middle of Seoul nightlife. In a metropolis that may make them really feel unwelcome, foreigners flock to the realm. Seoul’s homosexual neighborhood can also be centered there. And whereas there are different nightlife districts — Gangnam is fashionable with rich expats and elite Seoulites, and Hongdae is fashionable with school college students — Itaewon tends to have extra various, constant throngs.
With most coronavirus restrictions dropped, this was the primary massive Halloween celebration in Seoul because the pandemic hit in 2020. In 2021, many individuals stayed house, and strict guidelines stored those who got here out from getting too rambunctious. The pent-up pleasure let unfastened on Friday: At bars and golf equipment, patrons expressed shock at how crowded Itaewon was — and a few fears about how chaotic Saturday would be.
Disbelief, confusion and shock confirmed on the faces of the younger individuals nonetheless on the scene early Sunday. On again streets just some blocks away, some partyers have been nonetheless reveling at bars. Many didn’t know concerning the catastrophe till they tried to depart and located themselves blocked by the emergency automobiles and officers who had taken over the principle space, wheeling our bodies onto ambulances.
As households searched for his or her lacking family members, many our bodies have been nonetheless unidentified. They’d been moved to a close-by gymnasium for identification, which was simply starting by 4:30 a.m. native time.
Canadian Erin O’Toole, an English trainer who has been in South Korea for a decade, stated the Itaewon space had grow to be more and more fashionable for Halloween celebrations. She had warned her buddies to come back no later than 4 p.m. for worry of crowds.
“I knew tonight can be loopy, however I didn’t know it might be this unhealthy,” she stated, in tears.
When reporters requested hearth officers what households attempting to find family members ought to assume, one official stated it was not potential to say if these nonetheless not discovered after a number of hours must be presumed useless.
Seoul officers stated they have been holding a listing of individuals calling to ask about lacking family members. Native police stated there was not but a system arrange for households to be notified concerning the standing of victims until they knew the hospital the place a beloved one had been taken.
The tragedy in Itaewon gave the impression to be the deadliest catastrophe in South Korea since 2014, when the capsizing of the Sewol ferry killed 304 individuals.
It was the second main lethal crush this month. Not less than 130 individuals have been killed on Oct. 1 at a soccer stadium in Indonesia when police fired tear gasoline at followers, a Washington Submit investigation discovered.
Such crushes are sometimes pushed by panic or urgency at massive occasions, whether or not celebratory, non secular or circumstantial. In Might, no less than 31 individuals died after a crowd rushed to get free items at a charity occasion in Nigeria, Al Jazeera reported. In January, CNN reported, no less than a dozen individuals have been killed at a holy shrine in India on New Yr’s Day.
One of many deadliest stampedes in fashionable historical past occurred in Saudi Arabia in 2015 in the course of the hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Not less than 2,411 individuals have been killed, an Related Press depend discovered.
Choi Boseong had final texted his girlfriend about 9 p.m. native time Saturday, throughout what was presupposed to be a enjoyable evening together with his two finest buddies for his twenty fourth birthday in Itaewon. However an hour later, the gang he was in grew uncontrolled, and one among his buddies overpassed him, the buddy advised Boseong’s girlfriend, Gabriela Pares, who was in the USA watching the scene on a TikTok reside stream.
Nervous, Pares stated she tried calling and texting her boyfriend, with no response. When she referred to as Boseong’s sister, who lives about 40 minutes away from Itaewon, the household hadn’t but realized the extent of the tragedy.
Boseong’s father, sister and buddy started looking hospitals all through Seoul for him, Pares stated. He had final been seen sporting a inexperienced jacket, a white shirt and blue denims, however hours later, somebody had discovered his jacket and his cellphone and returned it to his buddy.
A devastated Pares stated she was ready for information from half a world away. “It’s actually onerous,” she stated tearfully, “particularly as a result of I’m right here within the U.S., so there’s not a lot that I can do.”
Later she heard the worst: Boseong had died. She stated she would depart for South Korea on Sunday to be with his household. “This can be a tragedy,” she stated in a textual content message.
The demise toll in Itaewon drew grief from world leaders.
“Horrific information from Seoul tonight,” tweeted British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. “All our ideas are with these presently responding and all South Koreans at this very distressing time.”
In an announcement launched by the White Home, President Biden stated that he and the primary woman “ship our deepest condolences to the households who misplaced family members in Seoul. We grieve with the individuals of the Republic of Korea and ship our greatest needs for a fast restoration to all those that have been injured.”
