One hundred and twenty people died and one hundred were injured in a stampede in Seoul, the South Korean capital, on Saturday October 29, during Halloween celebrations, according to the latest official report. Dozens of people were picked up in the Itaewon district, known for its nightlife, where thousands of people had gathered to party. The death toll could rise further as relief operations continue.
Firefighters in the South Korean capital first announced that dozens of people had been treated for cardiac arrest. Many people collapsed on top of each other in a narrow street, Yongsan Fire Station Chief Choi Sung-beom said. The same source had first specified that 140 ambulances had been deployed to the scene to take care of the victims.
The victims seem to have been caught in crowd movements in this district where Halloween celebrations bring together a large number of people in the South Korean capital.
Deadly crowd movement
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who heads a crisis cell, has asked to prepare hospitals to receive the injured, the presidency said. Foreign nationals are among those transferred to nearby hospitals, according to Reuters.
Photographs released by Yonhap showed more than a dozen people lying in a street, with rescuers performing CPR on some of them, as police cordoned off the crowds.
According to video footage, around 20 bodies were covered in sheets or blankets, however, as rescuers made no attempt to revive them. Other victims were evacuated on stretchers to ambulances. The authorities said they were investigating the origin of this deadly crowd movement.