[이태원 참사] American and Japanese fathers who lost their 20-year-old son and 26-year-old daughter have suffered hundreds of millions of stab wounds

The grieving families of foreign victims who lost their families in an instant in the Itaewon disaster expressed their grief. The number of confirmed deaths abroad is 26 in 14 countries, including the United States, Japan, Iran, China and Russia.

On the 31st, the New York Times (NYT) introduced the story of Steve Blassie, an American who lost his son in the Itaewon disaster.

Concerned about the safety of his second son Stephen, 20, who lived in Seoul to study Korean, Blash tried several times to contact his son in a hurry. There was no contact with his son and Blass contacted his son’s friends and US government officials. But what came back was the sad news that the son of the US embassy in Korea was dead. Thirty minutes before the incident, Blash sent a text message to his son saying, “Go to safety,” but received no response.

In a telephone interview with the New York Times on the 30th, Blassie said, “I feel like I’ve been stabbed hundreds of millions of times.” He added: “The world seems to be collapsing. (When I heard the news) I became helpless and at the same time I was in a great shock.”

Blash’s son always wanted to study international economics in Northeast Asia. After delaying studying abroad due to the corona epidemic, I came to Korea to study this fall. “My wife is Latin, but my son didn’t want to go to Latin America,” said Blasey.

Blashy also expressed resentment at the insufficient measures taken by the Korean authorities. “[Il governo coreano]he shouldn’t have allowed people to come together like this, “Blassie criticized.

On the same day, Japan’s Hokkaido Broadcasting Company (HBC) also reported an interview with Ayumu Tomikawa, a Japanese father who lost his daughter in this disaster. “It’s very sad,” Tomikawa told HBC. “I didn’t object to going to Korea because it was Korea that my daughter liked. Rather, I cheered for her.” Her daughter May has been studying in Korea for six months.

On the day of the incident, the daughter communicated with her father via Line, saying: “Traditional Korean food, bibimbap, was delicious. Today I am meeting with a French classmate.” However, upon hearing the news of the disaster, Tomikawa calls her daughter, but there is no connection. Only later was the connection established, but it was the police who lifted the mobile phone on the spot and answered the call. Later, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that her daughter was dead, saying “the fingerprints match”.

“My daughter was a cheerful and cute little girl,” Tomikawa told HBC in a shaky voice.

The death toll of foreigners, including Steve and May, reached 26 in 14 countries. △ 5 from Iran, △ 4 from China, △ 4 from Russia, △ 2 from the United States, △ 2 from Japan, △ one each from France, Australia, Norway, Austria, Vietnam, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka.