Rescue officers load a stretcher with a target of a Halloween crush, which remaining at the very least 150 people today useless, into an ambulance in the district of Itaewon in Seoul on Oct 30, 2022.
Anthony Wallace | AFP | Getty Visuals
South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol declared a interval of national mourning on Sunday soon after a Halloween crush killed some 151 people in a packed nightlife area in Seoul.
Yoon expressed condolences to the victims, mainly teenagers and people today in their 20s, and his needs for a fast recovery to the hurt.
“This is really tragic,” he said in a statement. “A tragedy and disaster that need to not have happened took area in the heart of Seoul previous night.”
A enormous crowd celebrating in the common Itaewon district surged into an alley on Saturday night time, emergency officers stated, introducing the demise toll could rise.
Choi Sung-beom, head of the Yongsan Fireplace Station, mentioned 151 fatalities had been confirmed, including 19 foreigners. He instructed a briefing at the scene 82 people today have been hurt, 19 of them seriously.
It was the very first Halloween occasion in Seoul in 3 a long time right after the place lifted Covid-19 constraints and social distancing. Lots of of the partygoers have been wearing masks and Halloween costumes.
Some witnesses described the crowd turning into progressively unruly and agitated as the evening deepened. The incident took spot at about 10:20 p.m. (1320 GMT).
“A selection of individuals fell for the duration of a Halloween festival, and we have a significant variety of casualties,” Choi mentioned. Numerous of all those killed were being in close proximity to a nightclub.
You would see significant crowds at Xmas and fireworks … but this was various 10-folds even bigger than any of that.
Quite a few of the victims were being girls in their 20s, when the foreigners killed integrated people from China, Iran, Uzbekistan and Norway, Choi claimed.
Witnesses explained chaos moments before the stampede, with the police on hand in anticipation of the Halloween party at periods obtaining difficulties maintaining manage of the crowds.
Moon Ju-younger, 21, claimed there were being crystal clear symptoms of issues in the alleys prior to the incident. “It was at minimum more than 10 instances crowded than normal,” he told Reuters.
Social media footage confirmed hundreds of men and women packed in the slim, sloped alley crushed and immobile as crisis officials and police tried out to pull them to free of charge.
Choi, the Yongsan district fireplace main, explained all the deaths ended up likely from the crush in the one slim alley.
Fire officials and witnesses reported people continued to pour into the alley that was by now packed wall-to-wall, when those at the major of the sloped avenue fell, sending people today below them toppling about many others.
One particular girl mentioned her daughter, pulled from the crush of people today, survived just after staying trapped for far more than an hour.
A makeshift morgue was established up in a setting up following to the scene. About 4 dozen bodies were wheeled out on wheeled stretchers and moved to a federal government facility to identify the victims, in accordance to a Reuters witness.
The Itaewon district is preferred with younger South Koreans and expatriates alike, its dozens of bars and eating places packed on Saturday for Halloween after companies had experienced a sharp decline above a few decades of the pandemic.
“You would see major crowds at Christmas and fireworks … but this was many ten-folds even larger than any of that,” Park Jung-hoon, 21, advised Reuters from the scene.
U.S. President Joe Biden and initial lady Jill Biden despatched their condolences, writing: “We grieve with the individuals of the Republic of Korea and send out our greatest wishes for a rapid recovery to all these who have been injured.”
British Primary Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted: “All our ideas are with all those presently responding and all South Koreans at this incredibly distressing time.”
With the easing of the Covid pandemic, curfews on bars and restaurants and a limit of 10 persons for non-public gatherings were being lifted in April. An outdoor mask mandate was dropped in May possibly.
President Yoon held an unexpected emergency conference with senior aides and purchased a task pressure be established up to safe assets to deal with the injured and start a extensive investigation into the result in of the disaster.
The catastrophe is among the country’s deadliest due to the fact a 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 persons, generally higher school pupils.
The sinking of the Sewol, and criticism of the official response, sent shockwaves throughout South Korea, prompting popular soul-seeking above safety actions in the region that are most likely to be renewed in the wake of Saturday’s crush.