At least 149 people died and some 76 others were injured in a stampede in Seoul, the South Korean capital, on Saturday October 29, during Halloween festivities, according to a latest official report. Thousands of people had gathered in the Itaewon district, known for its nightlife, to party.
The number of victims could rise further as relief operations continue. A previous toll reported 120 dead and 100 wounded. Foreign nationals are among those transferred to hospitals, according to Reuters.
Firefighters had first announced that dozens of victims of cardiac arrest had been taken care of. Many people, caught up in swirling crowds, collapsed on top of each other in a narrow street, Yongsan sapper barracks chief Choi Sung-beom said. He first specified that one hundred and forty ambulances had been deployed to the scene.
Investigation into the origin of the crowd movement
South Korean President Yoon Seok-youl, who heads a crisis unit, has asked that hospitals prepare to receive the injured, the presidency said. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who was visiting Europe, decided to return in a hurry due to the tragedy, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed on Saturday evening on Twitter “a heartfelt thought for the people of Seoul and for all the Korean people”. “France is by your side”he added, while his Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, expressed in a tweet of his “very strong emotion following the terrible tragedy that affects Seoul”.
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.
Very strong emotion following the terrible drama that affects Seoul. All my thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones… https://t.co/5lFVrRVv6f
US President Joe Biden has sent his condolences to Seoul. “We mourn with the people of the Republic of Korea and wish a speedy recovery to all those who have been injured”he said in a statement, adding that the United States “stand with South Korea during this tragic time”.
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. Video images also showed about twenty bodies covered with a sheet or blanket. Other victims were evacuated on stretchers to ambulances. The authorities said they were investigating the origin of this deadly crowd movement.