Alloween festivities on Saturday night in Seoul, South Korea’s capital, turned tragic when a stampede at a well-known market resulted in 151 deaths and 82 injuries. According to the officials quoted by Yonhap news agency, the disaster had the greatest impact on victims in their 20s.
According to the authorities, 54 men and 97 women died in the stampede, and victims from Iran, Uzbekistan, China, and Norway were among the foreign nationals who perished.
President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea has proclaimed a period of national mourning following a stampede that occurred during Halloween celebrations. According to the Yonhap news agency, the president described it as “very awful” to witness such a catastrophe taking place in the middle of Seoul.
Around a million people had gathered to enjoy Halloween in the trendy Itaewon district of the capital when the crowd surge and crush occurred. For the first significant Halloween event after the majority of Covid-19 restrictions had been abolished, people had assembled. President Yoon Suk Yeol convened a second emergency meeting on Sunday after receiving a briefing immediately following the stampede, according to Yonhap. He gave directives to ministries to evaluate safety procedures and to administer prompt first aid and treatment to anyone hurt in the accident.
According to the Korean Times, the Seoul metropolitan government stated on Sunday that it had received reports of roughly 270 people missing as a result of a catastrophic stampede. The stampede on Saturday killed the most people ever recorded in a mass catastrophe in South Korea. According to Choi, the fire chief for the Yongsan district, all the fatalities most likely resulted from the crowding in the only small alley. According to authorities, a massive crowd started rushing forward in a small lane outside the Hamilton Hotel, a popular gathering place for revellers in Seoul, and several people are thought to have been crushed to death. As emergency personnel and police attempted to extricate the hundreds of individuals jammed into the small, sloping alley, video footage posted to social media showed that they were immobilised and crushed.
Earlier, according to some local media accounts, the crush took place after a sizable crowd flocked to an Itaewon pub upon learning that an unnamed celebrity was in town, according to news agency AFP. Additionally, dozens of people experienced cardiac arrest in Seoul’s busy Itaewon nightlife area close to the Hamilton Hotel.
Social media posts and videos of the stampede’s aftermath showed pedestrians and emergency personnel frantically performing CPR on persons who were sprawled in the streets.
Nearly 400 emergency responders and 140 cars from across the nation were on the site treating the injured.
In the middle of a substantial police presence, ambulances were lined up on the route.
Police officials cordoned off the area while investigators scoured the debris-filled alleyways.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon decided to abandon his trip to Europe after hearing about the rush and return to South Korea, according to The Korea Times.
Global leaders sent their sympathies to Seoul and praised the tragic catastrophe.
“We grieve with the people of the Republic of Korea and extend our best wishes for a rapid recovery to all those who were harmed,” said U.S. President Joe Biden and his wife in a condolence letter.