At least 146 dead in Seoul Halloween crowd crush

SEOUL – At least 146 people died and at least 150 more were injured after an apparent crowd crush during Halloween celebrations in the Itaewon area of Seoul on Saturday night, according to fire department officials.

Witnesses reported a chaotic scene of partygoers cramped into narrow streets near the Itaewon station, some trying to leave the area after a night of celebrations. Some people couldn’t move their limbs because of the elbow-to-elbow crowd. Many couldn’t hear one another over the noise or call for help because of lack of a cell connection.

Bodies covered in blue medical sheets were being carried out from a makeshift emergency site in an empty building early Sunday morning, some with just one shoe on, others barefoot.

Dozens of ambulances were lined up along the main road in Itaewon, a foreigner-friendly international district where large crowds had gathered this weekend for Halloween parties. Many of the victims were in their 20s and 30s, both Korean and foreigners, according to fire authorities cited in South Korean media reports.

The South Korean presidential office said President Yoon Suk-yeol had been briefed on the incident. Yoon ordered government agencies to respond urgently to treat victims and review the safety measures available on-site.

The government also put out a citywide emergency alert that was received on mobile phones.

A Washington Post reporter observed emergency personnel administering CPR to people lying on the street as others were being carried on stretchers to ambulances. Young people in Halloween costumes were holding onto one another, distressed and in tears.

Erin O’Toole, from Canada, an English teacher who had been in Korea for 10 years, said the area had become popular over the past 10 years for Halloween celebrations. She had warned her friends to come to Itaewon no later than 4 p.m. for fear of crowds.

“I knew tonight would be crazy, but I did not know it would be this bad,” she said, in tears.