More Than 100 Dead After Halloween Festivities Crowd Surge in Seoul

Halloween festivities turned deadly Saturday night when hundreds of Seoul revelers were crushed in a crowd surge.

According to the New York Times, the tragedy took place in the leisure district of Itaewon, where approximately 100,000 people had gathered for the city’s first no-mask Halloween event since the pandemic. South Korean officials have confirmed the stampede resulted in hundreds of injuries and at least 146 deaths; of those killed, 46 were transported to the hospital and the rest taken to a gymnasium. Authorities say the death toll is expected to rise, as some of the victims may succumb to their injuries.

The crowd surge reportedly broke out in a narrow alley next to the Hamilton Hotel. Officials believe it began when hundreds of people began rushing toward a bar after hearing an unidentified celebrity had stopped there. 

More than 400 first-responders were deployed to the scene, along with 140 emergency vehicles from across the country. Videos posted on social media show medical personnel performing CPR and treating the victims, while body bags lined the streets.

“There were so many people that we couldn’t move,” said 46-year-old Song Su-yeon, who arrived in the district an hour after the surge. “It looked like I would have died if I had fallen.”

Police have restricted traffic in the district, while the Seoul Metropolitan Government issued emergency text messages urging people to leave the area and return to their homes immediately. Officials have also set up a first-aid clinic and disaster management center near the Hamilton Hotel. The center will also provide updated information about the tragedy, and will provide a list of people who are unaccounted for. 

“The top priority is to evacuate and save the victims,” South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol reportedly told his cabinet. “We should take them to urgent medical treatment as quickly as possible.”

The Times reports the incident is the deadliest peacetime disaster in South Korea since 2014, when more than 300 people were killed in the Sewol ferry sinking.