JUNG YEON-JE
Halloween events in South Korea become scenes of true terror on Saturday, as stampedes left greater than 150 lifeless, in accordance with the newest reviews out of Seoul.
The nightmare occurred within the capital’s stylish Itaewon neighborhood, the place as many as 100,000 individuals reportedly got here to celebration for the primary Halloween because the easing of pandemic security precautions.
Authorities initially reported the incident resulted solely in “cardiac arrests”—however as of Sunday night within the nation, the dying toll had risen to 153, with officers predicting it to rise attributable to these in critical situation. At the least 19 foreigners had been among the many casualties.
Joshua Smith of Florida noticed the horror unfold from the security of his lodge room.
“They had been doing CPR on so many individuals, and the membership music was simply blasting and other people in all probability couldn’t even hear one another,” he instructed The Washington Publish.
“They had been simply our bodies. As quickly as we began seeing individuals cowl their faces with a towel or one thing, that’s when it was clear these individuals had been lifeless. It was horrible, horrible to see.”
The dense crowd throughout a Halloween pageant in Seoul, South Korea.
@DABAKLUSA/Reuters
A health care provider, Lee Beom-suk, stated he tried to assist the fallen initially of the incident within the slim, winding alley lined with bars and eating places.
“After I first tried CPR there have been two victims mendacity on the pavement. However the quantity exploded quickly after, outnumbering first responders on the scene,” he stated, in accordance with Agence France Presse.
“It is exhausting to place in phrases to explain. So many victims’ faces had been pale. I couldn't catch their pulse or breath and plenty of of them had a bloody nostril.”
Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul’s Yongsan hearth division, stated that the our bodies had been being despatched to hospitals or a health club, the place relations may establish them and that many of the lifeless and injured are of their teenagers or twenties.
Greater than 1,700 response personnel from throughout the nation had been deployed, together with 520 firefighters, 1,100 law enforcement officials and 70 authorities staff.
The Nationwide Fireplace Company stated in a press release that each one of Seoul’s accessible emergency staff have been mobilized.
The precise explanation for the catastrophe is as but unclear, however the Related Press cited an nameless police supply stating that a superstar sighting might have triggered a sudden rush towards a bar.
Rescue workforce members wait with stretchers to take away our bodies from the scene the place dozens of individuals had been killed in a stampede throughout a Halloween pageant in Seoul.
KIM HONG-JI
AP reported one survivor as saying individuals fell and toppled to at least one one other “like dominos” after they had been being pushed by different individuals at a slim downhill alley.
A number of reviews have positioned the tragedy within the neighborhood of the Hamilton Lodge, a common vacation spot within the metropolis.
Rescue workforce members transfer a physique on the scene the place dozens of individuals had been injured in a stampede throughout a Halloween pageant in Seoul.
KIM HONG-JI
Movies posted to social media reportedly from across the time of the incident present streets congested with a multinational crowd.
Others later confirmed immobile our bodies on the bottom as rescue crews hurried and a number of individuals tried CPR.
The Itaewon tragedy is the worst catastrophe in South Korea exterior of wartime because the Sewol ferry sank in 2014, killing greater than 300 individuals.