At least 151 killed in Halloween crowd surge in Itaewon
Halloween revelry turned into tragedy as a crowd crush in Itaewon in central Seoul, South Korea killed at least 151 people and injured more than 82 on the evening of October 29, according to fire officials.
More than 100 of those who passed away were taken to the hospital. The remaining bodies were left behind before being taken to a neighboring indoor gymnasium that served a variety of purposes. Fire officials predict that it will take some time to identify the bodies.
The majority of the deceased were young adults. The number of fatalities is anticipated to increase throughout the day, according to officials.
As of 10:30 a.m., 19 foreign nationals were confirmed killed in the tragedy last Sunday. Among the deceased were people from Iran, Uzbekistan, China, and Norway.
The current death toll stands at 54 men and 97 women.
At 10:38 p.m., the fire department launched its initial response. on Saturday, and at 11:50 p.m. it was promoted to stage three. 142 ambulances and 848 people in total were sent to the scene of the disaster, including 364 firefighters.
Rescuers were performing CPR on scores of people who had fallen unconscious close to the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon at around 11:30 p.m., according to sources. According to the first reports, there were about 50 individuals at the site who were having cardiac arrests.
On Saturday, almost 100,000 people spent the entire day in the entertainment district to celebrate the first Halloween weekend without the use of masks and other social isolation techniques since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following reports of the incident, President Yoon Suk-yeol said, “All related ministries and agencies, led by the minister of public administration and security, should make every effort to promptly provide aid to the victims,” according to Lee Jae-myung, a deputy presidential office spokesperso
The president also called for safety procedures to deal with any issues that might arise during Halloween-related festivities taking place across the nation. According to rumors, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has also made the decision to return right away from his business vacation in Europe.
