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WORLD NEWS Monday 31 october 2022
S. Korea in shock, grief as 153 die in Halloween

crowd surge

By Kim Tong-Hyung and
Hyung-Jin Kim
Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) —
Concerned relatives raced
to hospitals in search of
their loved ones Sunday as
South Korea mourned the
deaths of more than 150
people, mostly in their 20s
and 30s, who got trapped
and crushed after a huge
Halloween party crowd
surged into a narrow alley
in a nightlife district in Seoul.
Witnesses said the crowd
surge Saturday night in the
Itaewon area caused “a
hell-like” chaos as people
fell on each other “like
dominoes.” Some people
were bleeding from their
noses and mouths while Rescue workers and firefighters try to help injured people near the scene of a crowd surge in
being given CPR, witnesses Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2022.
said, while others clad in (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Halloween costumes con- things that made this so their shops through Mon- sure they proceed safely.
tinued to sing and dance complicated.” day to reduce the number “This is really devastating.
nearby, possibly without Ninety-seven of the dead of partygoers who would The tragedy and disaster
knowing the severity of the were women and 56 were come to the streets through that need not have hap-
situation. men. More than 80% of Halloween day. pened took place in the
“I still can’t believe what the dead are in their 20s While Halloween isn’t a tra- heart of Seoul amid Hallow-
has happened. It was like a and 30s, but at least four ditional holiday in South Ko- een (celebrations),” Yoon
hell,” said Kim Mi Sung, an were teenagers. At least rea where children rarely said during the speech. “I
official at a nonprofit orga- 20 of the dead are foreign- go trick-or-treating it’s still a feel heavy hearted and
nization that promotes tour- ers from China, Russia, Iran major attraction for young cannot contain my sad-
ism in Itaewon. and elsewhere. There is adults, and costume par- ness as a president respon-
Kim said she performed one American among the ties at bars and clubs have sible for the people’s lives
CPR on 10 people who dead, the Interior Ministry become hugely popular in and safety.”
were unconscious and nine said in a release. recent years. After the speech, Yoon visit-
of them were declared An estimated 100,000 peo- Itaewon, near where the ed the Itaewon alley where
dead on the spot. Kim said ple had gathered in Itae- former headquarters of the disaster occurred. Lo-
the 10 were mostly women won for the country’s big- U.S. military forces in South cal TV footage showed
wearing witch outfits and gest outdoor Halloween Korea operated for de- Yoon inspecting the alley
other Halloween costumes. festivities since the pan- cades before moving out filled with trash and being
As of Sunday evening, of- demic began. The South of the capital in 2018, is briefed by emergency of-
ficials put the death toll Korean government had an expat-friendly district ficials.
at 153 and the number eased COVID-19 restric- known for its trendy bars, It was not immediately
of injured people at 133. tions in recent months. clubs and restaurants. It’s clear what led the crowd
The Ministry of the Interior Witnesses said the streets the city’s marquee Hal- to surge into the narrow,
and Safety said the death were so densely clogged loween destination. South downhill alley. One survivor
count could further rise as with people and slow- Korean President Yoon Suk said many people fell and
37 of the injured people moving vehicles that it was Yeol declared a one-week toppled one another “like
were in serious conditions. practically impossible for national mourning period dominoes” after they were
Ken Fallas, a Costa Rican emergency workers and on Sunday and ordered pushed by others.
architect who went Itae- ambulances to reach the flags at government build- The survivor, surnamed Kim,
won with expat friends, alley near Hamilton Hotel ings and public offices to fly said they were trapped
used his smartphone to film swiftly. at half-staff. During a tele- for about an hour and a
video showing unconscious The bodies of the dead vised speech, Yoon said half before being rescued,
people being carried out were being kept at 42 hos- supporting the families of as some people shouted
from the alley as others pitals in Seoul and nearby the victims, including their “Help me!” and others
shouted for help. He said Gyeonggi province, ac- funeral preparations, and were short of breath, ac-
the loud music made things cording to Seoul City, the treatment of the injured cording to the Seoul-based
more chaotic. which said it will instruct would be a top priority for Hankyoreh newspaper.
“When we just started to crematories to burn more his government. Choi Seong-beom, chief
move forward, there was bodies per day as part of He also called for officials of Seoul’s Yongsan fire de-
no way to go back,” Fallas plans to support funeral to thoroughly investigate partment, said that bodies
said. “We didn’t hear any- proceedings. the cause of the accident were being sent to hospi-
thing because the music Around 100 businesses in and review the safety of tals or a gym, where be-
was really loud. Now, I think the Hamilton Hotel area other large cultural and en- reaved family members
that was one of the main have agreed to shut down tertainment events to en- could identify them. q