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150 people were injured and 149 people were confirmed dead after a stampede broke out amid a large crowd in Seoul on Saturday afternoon. The death toll is expected to rise.
This was reported by the Reuters news agency, which cites the firefighters of the city. Many of the injured are in critical condition, according to fire chief Choi Seong-beom.
– A huge and crushing disaster, writes the South Korean Yonhap on the front page on Saturday night.
The chaos occurred around 10:20 pm local time, in connection with a Halloween celebration on the streets of Itaewon’s popular club district. Initially, many were reported to have suffered cardiac arrest after being crushed or stepped on in the chaos.
According to the city firefighters, most of the dead are between 20 and 20 years old.
– People lay on top of each other in different layers. Some have gradually lost consciousness, while others appeared already dead, an eyewitness told Yonhap.
Photos and videos of the scene show people lying lifeless on the ground. Many are also taken away on stretchers by ambulance workers, who work with explosives.
Choi Cheon-sik of the Seoul fire brigade informs him AP that 76 of the dead were tempted to be saved To the hospital. The others would have been dropped off on the street before being taken to a nearby training center to be identified.
Many of the people involved must be foreign nationals, emergency services told Reuters.
BBC writes that about 100,000 people will have taken to the streets to celebrate Halloween without masks for the first time since the pandemic. The disaster is said to have occurred in an alley where people were cramped.
– Many young people gathered here last night. Many came here in costume to celebrate, and many were shocked and sad when the chaotic scenes unfolded, BBC reporter on the scene, Hosu Lee told the channel.
– Ambulances removed the bodies one by one, he adds.
According to AP, local media reports that chaos arose when a celebrity was spotted in one of the nearby bars. This has not yet been confirmed.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has asked the emergency services to provide immediate assistance to the injured. He also urged people to stay away from the roads so that ambulances don’t get there.
An investigation has already begun to get to the bottom of how the accident could have happened.
– No indication that Norwegians are affected
According to local firefighters, two of the dead are foreign nationals.
VG has been in contact with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which claims to closely monitor the incident.
– The situation is still unclear and at the moment we have no indications that Norwegians are affected, says press spokesman Ane Haavardsdatter Lunde.
He added that the ministry is in dialogue with the Norwegian embassy in South Korea to investigate the matter.
Sweden’s Alex Noble, on the other hand, became a witness from Itaewon’s main street when chaos erupted during the celebration. The 22-year-old, who lives in Seoul, talks about the drama a Swedish Radio:
– It’s never over, they all seemed completely lifeless, he tells the radio channel.
Noble estimates that he saw at least 60 lifeless people in front of him.
– I’ve never seen so many people die, he adds.
