The number of victims of yesterday’s Halloween party in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, has already risen to 153. Many of the victims were trampled to death.
All this is now known about Saturday’s major accident in Seoul, South Korea, in which at least 153 people died.
1. Halloween was celebrated without restrictions for a long time
In Seoul’s Itaewon district, Halloween was celebrated for the first time after a two-year break without corona restrictions.
The party buzz turned into a nightmare during the evening, when at least 153 people died in the crowded streets. Almost 90 were injured. Among the dead are 19 foreigners, but according to Sunday’s information, none of them were Finnish. However, there were Finns on the spot.
Read more: A Finnish woman tells about moments of horror in Seoul’s Halloween crowd – “Couldn’t control where to move at all”
Videos shared on social media reveal how people began to panic as more and more people packed into the narrow bar street in the center of the city.
Karenina Perätalo, interviewed by , says that the police told the crowd in the middle of the street to turn back and go downhill. According to Perätalo, the reason for the order was not immediately clear, and the crowding got even worse.
Jarmil Taylor told the news agency AFP that on the way down, people crowded on top of each other while those higher up pushed them forward.
Those who were in Tungos did not have an overall picture of the situation.
The disaster is South Korea’s worst accident since a passenger ship carrying mostly students sank in 2014, killing more than 300 people.
2. According to the police, many suffered cardiac arrest
Most of those killed are young people in their twenties.
According to witnesses, people fell and were trampled by the crowd. South Korean officials say many of the victims suffered cardiac arrest.
While the investigation of the accident is ongoing, rumors have also started circulating, according to which the disaster could have been triggered by, for example, a gas leak or a fire. According to some reports, people would have thronged to see the celebrity who was there.
The police have found no confirmation of these rumours, says the news agency AFP, for example:
A thorough investigation has been promised into the causes of the major accident.
3. Some of the streets are very narrow
According to the police, there were up to 100,000 people in Itaewon on Saturday night.
The street at the center of the accident is only a four-meter-wide alley, he says The Korean Times (You are moving to another service). According to the magazine, the alley connects the busy restaurant area to the main road. In the alley, barely six people can walk side by side, the newspaper writes.
4. At the same time, another incident also took police forces
The large number of casualties could have been influenced by the fact that the first aiders could not reach the injured due to the crowding. Especially for heart problems, help should be there quickly.
Many revelers with first aid skills are said to have helped the medics in reviving people.
Many have criticized the authorities for not having sent enough police officers to the scene in the first place.
According to the South Korean Ministry of the Interior, there was also a large demonstration on the other side of Seoul at the same time, where a lot of police had been sent.
According to the police, more people than expected arrived in Itaewon on Saturday.
You can discuss the topic on 31.10. until 11 p.m.
Read also:
Karenina Perätalo experienced moments of horror in the crowded Halloween crowd in Seoul – “Couldn’t control where to move at all”
Finland’s ambassador to South Korea, Pekka Metso, saw the crowds before the accident – “At six o’clock it was already frighteningly full”
Many saw the signs of danger at the Seoul accident site even before the tragedy
More than 150 people were trampled to death at a Halloween party in South Korea – including 19 foreigners