Time for reflection and questions. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol promised Sunday, October 30 an investigation “rigorous” on the stampede that left at least 151 dead and 89 injured the previous evening in central Seoul. Tens of thousands of mostly very young revelers celebrated Halloween for the first time after the pandemic.
lamenting “a tragedy and a disaster that should not have happened”Yoon Suk-yeol promised that his government would do everything possible to determine the causes of the disaster, one of the most serious in recent history of South Korea, and ensure that it “does not happen again”.
“I have a heavy heart and it is difficult for me to contain my grief”, added in a televised address the head of state, who went to the scene of the tragedy on Sunday morning and declared national mourning. About 100,000 people, according to media estimates, had come to the capital’s cosmopolitan Itaewon district for this Halloween holiday, the first in Seoul since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bodies lined up on the sidewalk under blankets, cardiac massages performed in the street by passers-by at the request of overwhelmed firefighters, people in disguise or in evening dress running in panic: the night turned into a nightmare in Itaewon. The accident occurred around 10 p.m. Saturday (2 p.m. in France) near the Hamilton Hotel, located on a main avenue surrounded by steep alleys.
A crowd movement, of which we do not know at the moment what triggered it, pushed people “on top of each other as in a grave”a witness told the Yonhap news agency. “Some were losing consciousness gradually, others were obviously dead”he added.
“When I first tried CPR, there were two victims lying on the sidewalk. But soon after the number exploded”, told a doctor who administered first aid to the victims to the YTN television channel. “Many passers-by came to help us practice heart massage”he continued.
Many international leaders have expressed their dismay. “We mourn with the people of the Republic of Korea, and extend our best wishes for a speedy recovery to all those who were injured.”US President Joe Biden said in a statement.
Emmanuel Macron reacted on TwitterSaturday evening, and supported the “korean people”. Elisabeth Borne also reacted after the tragedy in Seoul. “Very strong emotion following the terrible drama that affects Seoul. All my thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones and the Korean people.“, tweeted the Prime Minister.
A moved thought this evening for the inhabitants of Seoul and for all the Korean people after the drama of Itaewon. France is at your side.
—Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 29, 2022
“I am terribly shocked and deeply saddened” by this accident “who took too many precious lives, including those of young people who had a future ahead of them”, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said. Chinese President Xi Jinping also offered his condolences to Seoul, saying he too “shocked” by drama.