Fact: Fatal congestion accidents
Some of the deadliest traffic accidents of the last decade:
Around 2,300 dead on 24 September 2015 in Mina near Mecca during the annual pilgrimage.
At least 151 dead on October 29, 2022 in South Korea’s capital Seoul during Halloween celebrations.
133 dead on October 1, 2022 at a football stadium in Malang, East Java, Indonesia.
At least 115 dead on October 13, 2013 in connection with a religious festival near a temple in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The death toll also includes those who drowned.
Source: AFP
— It was a shock. I didn’t know if they were joking, because it was Halloween and many people had dressed up, says Swedish Hamlet Talje Willloughby, who was there, to SVT News.
An estimated 100,000 people had gathered Saturday in the entertainment district of Itaewon in Seoul for Halloween celebrations. The first big celebration since before the pandemic and the first since all covid restrictions were lifted.
Panic broke out for reasons still unknown, and large clusters of people got stuck in the narrow alleyways. People are said to have died from lack of oxygen, but many are also said to have been trampled or crushed to death.
Police officers in one of the alleys where a large number of people were crushed or trampled to death. 19 foreigners
On Sunday morning local time, the rescue service announces that 151 people have been confirmed dead. Around eighty people are being treated for injuries, many of whom are seriously injured, local media reports.
Most of the dead and injured are said to be between 20 and 30 years old.
According to AFP, 19 foreigners have been confirmed among the dead. However, the rescue service has not stated their nationalities.
Late on Saturday, the Swedish Foreign Ministry did not have any information about dead or injured Swedes in connection with the incident.
142 ambulances were sent to the scene.”Bodies everywhere”
“At first we didn’t understand what happened, but then we realized that we also have to get out of here,” says Hamlet Talje Willloughby, from Gothenburg who lives in Seoul.
He and his friends, like many other Seoul residents, had gone to the Itaewon district to celebrate Halloween.
— I saw maybe fifty, sixty lifeless bodies in the street. The police cordoned off the entire area, but we needed to walk past, he tells SVT.
— I had never seen a dead body before, and there were bodies everywhere on the street.
President Yoon Suk-Yeol (center) called a crisis meeting. Identification takes time
The emergency services began receiving alarms about the incident at 10:22 p.m. local time, reports The Korea Herlad. A total of around 850 people from the emergency services rushed out and 142 ambulances took care of the injured.
Most of the dead have been taken to hospital, but a nearby sports facility has also had to be used to remove the dead from the streets. According to the emergency services, it may take time to identify everyone.
President Yoon Suk-Yeol called an emergency meeting regarding the accident. He urges the responsible authorities to ensure that the injured receive care quickly and to ensure that there are available beds in nearby hospitals.
In a speech to the nation on Sunday morning, he called it a tragedy and disaster that should not have happened. The president further promises a thorough investigation and to ensure that it cannot happen again, AFP reports.
Seoul’s mayor is currently in Europe but will now return home, writes Yonhap news agency.