Dozens of people in cardiac arrest after being overwhelmed by the crowd. The death toll is set to rise, authorities warn. happened on a street in Itaewon, one of Seoul’s most popular neighborhoods for young people, during the Halloween celebrations
There were a hundred thousand, perhaps more. Young people free to meet on the streets and in the clubs of Seoul without masks for the first time in two years. They poured in, many of them in costume, in the Itaewon district, a popular nightlife center of the South Korean capital, where many streets are narrow. But in the middle of the Halloween party those alleys have turned into a death trap.
How serious the disaster that took place around 22.20 local time, 15.20 Italian time, was understood even before official confirmation. When the firefighters were still talking about several people in cardiac arrest, videos were already circulating on social media showing them dozens of boys lying on the ground, surrounded by doctors and policemen trying to revive them with heart massage. A little farther on, under the dismayed gazes of those who escaped, motionless bodies one on top of the other.
The latest news on the Halloween massacre in Seoul, live
While the news of the first two deaths came from the hospitals, here are the images of dozens of corpses on the asphalt, arranged in rows, covered with blue and yellow sheets under the light of street lamps and sirens of the 140 ambulances employed and dozens of police vehicles.
The provisional number of 151 dead and at least 80 injured, most of whom are in their twenties. Among the victims – 97 girls and 54 boys (all under 30) – also figure 19 foreigners from Iran, Uzbekistan, China (at least one victim according to the embassy in Seoul) and Norway. Of the 82 injured, 19 are in serious condition, Yonhap said. The Seoul metropolitan government said it had received 355 reports of missing persons related to the tragedy.
But the tragic toll could go up againFire Chief Choi Seong-beom said, because the practice requires that death be certified by hospitals, where many have been transported in desperate conditions. And in the middle of the South Korean night, over 400 doctors, in the streets of the neighborhood and in the emergency wards, were still busy saving lives. Nearly fifty bodies have been transferred to a gymnasium so that medical personnel and families can identify them. Most are girls between the ages of twenty and thirty. All the agents and rescuers of the city were mobilized, almost 850 in all. Many others were recalled from all over the country.
What triggered the crowd under which dozens were crushed is still unclear. The authorities are investigating. Some local media write that chaos erupted when the rumor spread among young people that a celebrity, as yet unidentified, was in a neighborhood bar. Other rumors have pushed the hypothesis of terrorism, speak of a dangerous gas scattered inside a room that would have caused the escape of customers.
Several had written online that the area around the famous Hamilton Hotel was too crowded. Soon the authorities of the neighborhood warned all the inhabitants by telephone: go home as soon as possible, there was an accident in the area.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has called a meeting with the closest staff and proclaimed a state of emergency: Ministries and state agencies at this time only have to worry about supporting relief efforts. There has been a tragedy and a disaster that shouldn’t have happened, Yoon said in a national speech, vowing to investigate the incident thoroughly and take every measure to avoid a repeat of such a tragedy. Yoon also declared a period of national mourning. Meanwhile, the mayor of the capital Oh Se-hoon, meanwhile, has interrupted a trip to Europe to return to the city.
The South Korean government then proclaimed a seven-day national mourning, from today to next Saturday, by ordering that flags in government buildings and public offices fly at half mast as a sign of condolence. Much of South Korea’s scheduled Halloween events and parades have been canceled.
October 29, 2022 (change October 30, 2022 | 10:13)
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