Massacre at the Halloween party in Seoul: at least 146 dead and 150 injured, most of them in their twenties
In Seoul, the first unrestricted outdoor anti-Covid Halloween celebrations turned into a massacre of young people: in the crowd created in Itaewon, the district of clubs and nightlife in the South Korean capital, they were killed at least 146 people and another 150 injured, most of them in their twenties. It is one of the worst massacres of the last decade in these circumstances.
An official version of the causes of the incident has not yet been released in the area where 100,000 people gathered for the celebrations: some local media, such as the all news broadcaster Ytn, claim that chaos broke out after rumors spread among young people about the presence of a famous person in a bar of the neighborhood. The first reports from official sources spoke of dozens of people who went into cardiac arrest, probably crushed by the crowd and over 140 ambulances on the spot. There is also starting to be some controversy for one perhaps too soft management of the crowd.
The images disseminated on social media show the panic of those fleeing and a row of corpses on the ground covered by the sheets of the rescuers. According to preliminary reports, the victims were trampled to death after a large crowd began to come forward in a narrow alley near the famous party venue Hamilton Hotel. Itaewon district, famous for its nightlifewhere a massive gathering of crowds had formed.
Police said that dozens of people underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the streets of Itaewon, while many others were taken to nearby hospitals. “People were stacked on top of each other like a tomb. Some gradually lost consciousness while others seemed already dead,” a witness told South Korean news agency Yonhap. A particularly distressing video shows scores of people struggling to breathe and stand in the crowd as rescuers try to extricate themselves from the stampede of those no longer in need of medical assistance.
A local fire brigade officer, Choi Seong-beom, reported that the bodies of the victims were transferred to a gymnasium not far from the site of the tragedy, to be identified. Local television showed dozens of ambulances at Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital, where some of the injured were taken and the fear is that the toll could worsen further.
The mayor of Seoul Oh Se-hoon, on a visit to Europe, decided to return urgently, while President Yoon Suk-yeol called a meeting with his closest collaborators and proclaimed a state of emergency. Seoul received the solidarity from various Western capitals. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani expressed “Italy’s condolences”, Paris said it was “on the side” of South Korea and “all the necessary support” was offered by Washington.
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