Crush kills at least 146 at Halloween festivities in Seoul

 

Jung Yeon-Je / AFP Via Getty Images

 

The New York Times reported that the tragedy occurred in Itaewon’s leisure area, where about 100,000 people had gathered for the city’s first no-mask Halloween celebration following the pandemic. Officials from South Korea have reported that the stampede caused hundreds of injuries as well as at least 146 deaths, of whom 46 were carried to the hospital and the other victims were taken to a gymnasium. Authorities predict that the death toll may grow since some of the wounded may pass away from their wounds.

 

Officials from South Korea revealed that the Itaewon crowd surge took at least 146 lives. Most of the victims, according to Yongsan Fire Chief Choi Seong-beom, were youths or adults in their 20s. He did not specify the nations of the two foreigners who were killed, but they were foreigners.

 

According to reports, the crowd surge started in a little lane near to the Hamilton Hotel. According to authorities, everything started when hundreds of people rushed into a bar after learning that an unknown celebrity had stopped there.

140 emergency vehicles from throughout the nation were sent to the area along with more than 400 first responders. While body bags littered the streets, videos posted on social media showed medical staff doing CPR and treating the victims.

 

“The top priority is to evacuate and save the victims,” South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol reportedly told his cabinet. “We should take them to urgent medical treatment as quickly as possible.”

 

According to The Times, the incident is South Korea’s greatest peacetime disaster since 2014, when the Sewol ferry sinking claimed more than 300 lives.