SEOUL (AP) — More than 150 people died in a stampede at a Halloween event in central Seoul, officials said Sunday, and South Korea’s president vowed a thorough investigation into one of the country’s worst disasters.
The Sultanate of Oman expressed its condolences to the Republic of Korea on the stampede in the capital, Seoul, expressing its sincere condolences and sympathy to the friendly Korean Government and people, as well as to the families of the victims, and a speedy recovery for the injured.
The crowd and crushing occurred in the capital’s working-class Itaewon neighborhood, where police estimate up to 100,000 more people, mostly teenagers and 20-year-olds, went to celebrate Halloween on Saturday night, clogging the area’s narrow alleys and winding streets. President Yoon Suk-yeol declared an era of national mourning on Sunday, telling the country in a televised interview that “tragedy and disaster have happened that have not happened. “
He said the government will “thoroughly investigate the cause of the incident and make basic innovations to ensure that the same twist of fate does not happen again in the future. “
“My center is heavy and it’s hard to involve my pain,” he added, before heading to the scene of the crisis and speaking to rescuers. People piled on top of most of the others. Firefighters said at least 151 other people, and 19 more foreigners, died in the stampede, which occurred around 22:00 (13:00 GMT). Most of the victims were young women in their twenties. He added, adding that 89 other people were wounded.
The Interior Ministry said most of the victims had already been identified. “The highest death toll is because many other people were trampled on during the Halloween event,” fire leader Choi Seong-beom told reporters at the scene, adding that the death toll may rise. Seoul authorities said they also obtained 355 reports of missing persons on Sunday morning.
– ‘Unprecedented size’ – Authorities said Sunday they had no clear concept of the cause of the crash, while eyewitnesses described scenes of chaos as a giant crowd panicked in a narrow alley. Local investors told AFP the number of other people on the annual birthday. “Unprecedented” party this year: the first time it takes place without Covid-19 restrictions since the pandemic began. Jeon Ga-eul, 30, told AFP.
When questions began to arise about the lack of security at the event, Interior Minister Lee Sang-min said at a briefing that police forces had been occupied on the other side of the city. “I am not sure of the exact number of police deployed (in Itaewon), however, a considerable number were deployed in Gwanghwamun, where a giant crowd was waiting for a demonstration,” he said. Police also didn’t expect such a large crowd at the Halloween event, he said.
“The expected duration of the crowd in Itaewon hasn’t deviated much from the past few years, so I sense it has unfolded on a similar scale as before. ” to administer first aid. In an interview with local broadcaster YTN, Lee Beom-suk, a doctor who administered first aid to the victims, described scenes of tragedy and chaos. “Many of the victims’ faces were pale. pulse or breathing, and many of them had bloody noses.
When I tried CPR, I also drew blood from their mouths. “AFP footage showed dozens of bodies on the pavement covered with sheets, and rescuers dressed in orange vests carrying even more bodies onto stretchers in ambulances.
– ‘Oh my God’ – Twitter user @janelles_story shared a video she said showed Itaewon a while before the stampede, in which many young people, many dressed in elaborate Halloween costumes, are seen on a narrow street covered with bars and cafes. .
The crowd seems to be in a good mood at first, but then a commotion begins and other people begin to be pushed against each other. Screams and gasps are heard and a female voice shouts in English “Shit, shit!”followed by “Oh my God, oh my God!”The 19 foreigners killed included victims from Iran, Uzbekistan, China and Norway, Yonhap reported. Russia’s Tass news firm said two of the victims were Russian.
The Chinese embassy in Seoul showed on its official WeChat account that 3 Chinese citizens died in the stampede. Seoul’s staunch ally, U. S. President Joe Biden, said the United States “supports” South Korea after the tragedy, while Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he was “extremely surprised and deeply saddened” by the disaster.
Disguised revelers fleeing in terror, desperate first aid attempts on sidewalks, dozens of bodies covered in makeshift shrouds: In Seoul’s bustling Itaewon district, a Halloween festival turned dramatic on Saturday.
“My friend said, ‘Something horrible is happening out of place,'” said Jeon Ga-eul, 30, who was having a drink at a bar at the time of the stampede. “I said, what are you talking about? And then I said he went out and saw and there were other people doing CPR on the street. “unusually dense on Saturday night, eyewitnesses told AFP, and Jeon said even before the crisis he didn’t feel safe.
“There were so many other people who were pushed and I was trapped in the crowd and I couldn’t get out at first either,” he said.
Firefighters said the dead included 97 women and 54 men, and eyewitnesses told the Yonhap news firm that other smaller people were fighting more in the crowd. on the edge of the alley while “the other people in the middle suffered more. “
– Help from passers-by – The stampede took position in a narrow, sloping alley near the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon. One witness described on Twitter the panic that began when other people “kept pushing” into the already crowded alley. This resulted in “other people screaming and falling like dominoes,” the Twitter user wrote with the care of “jkaesthet1c. “the beginning of the stampede,” they added. Some survivors said department stores and institutions near the alley prevented others from entering to escape the crowd.
“It turns out that the sick were more serious as other people tried to escape to close the shops, but they were sent back to the street because the opening hours were over,” one survivor told Yonhap.
Faced with a large number of casualties, emergency responders asked passersby to administer first aid and perform CPR on patients on the streets, right next to the chaos. The bodies of others who had been crushed or trampled to death lay in rows. , covered with blankets or makeshift shrouds.
Stunned passersby sat on the sidewalk, checking their phones. Others comforted others by kissing.
By early Sunday morning, police investigators had cordoned off and were examining the debris-strewn alleys, where there were still remnants of Halloween costumes and trash strewn on the cobblestones. He visited the crash site and spoke with police and other officials. “There are people, but nothing like this has ever happened before,” Ju Young Possamai, 24, a bartender in Itaewon district, told AFP.
“I’ve been to a lot of Halloween parties in Korea,” he said, adding, “I never thought something like this could happen only in Korea, especially in Itaewon. “