President Joe Biden expressed condolences to South Korea, where two Americans were among the 153 killed.
President Joe Biden expressed condolences to South Korea, where two Americans were among the 153 killed.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol promises a thorough investigation into the cause of the incident as well as "fundamental improvements" to prevent a recurrence.
Horrible tragedy in South Korea
South Korea has been plunged into mourning, and world leaders have paid tribute after a Halloween crush in Seoul killed 153 people, including four Chinese nationals.
President Yoon Suk-yeol declared a national mourning period and promised a thorough investigation into one of the country's worst disasters.
The event wave and grind occurred in the capital's popular Itaewon district, where up to 100,000 people, mostly in their teens and twenties, gathered on Saturday night to celebrate Halloween, clogging the area's narrow alleyways and winding streets.
“My heart is heavy and it is difficult to contain my sorrow,” he added before he visited the scene of the disaster and spoke to emergency workers.
World leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and his counterpart Joe Biden expressed their sadness and condolences over the disaster.
Xi expressed condolences on behalf of the government and the Chinese people in a note to Yoon, noting that the incident had resulted in casualties among Chinese citizens.
The Chinese embassy in Seoul previously confirmed that four citizens were killed and two others were injured in the crash.
“I hope that the Korean government will make every effort to save and treat the victims and manage well in the aftermath,” Xi said.
On his social media page on Sunday, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-Chiu stated that his administration was paying close attention to the tragedy in Seoul.
In a Facebook post, he stated that the Security Bureau was ready to assist Hong Kong residents in need.
Local reports & Social Media
Saturday's stampede occurred around 10:20 p.m. local time in a narrow, sloping alley near the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon.
According to local media, hundreds of people rushed through the alley towards a nightclub where a YouTube celebrity was performing.
Witnesses described chaos in the moments leading up to the stampede. Moon Ju-young, 21, stated that there were already clear indications of trouble.
One eyewitness described on Twitter the panic that started when people “kept pushing down” into the already crowded alley. This resulted in “other people screaming and falling down like dominoes”, the Twitter user with the handle “jkaesthet1c” wrote. “I thought I would be crushed to death too as people kept pushing without realizing there were people falling down at the start of the stampede.”
Twitter and Facebook video footage shows hundreds of people crushed and immobile in the alley as emergency personnel and police attempted to free them.
According to Choi, the Yongsan district fire chief, all of the deaths were most likely caused by the crush in the single narrow alley.
Those looking for shelter would have had few options with the lane. The hotel's most solid wall occupies one side.
The other side is lined with a few small storefronts, including bars, a small retail shop, and an Emart24 convenience store branch.
According to fire officials and witnesses, people continued to pour into the crowded alley after those at the top of the sloped street collapsed, sending people below them toppling over each other.
According to one mother, her daughter survived after being trapped for more than an hour.
According to the Seoul-based Hankyoreh newspaper, another survivor, Lee Chang-kyu, saw about five to six men push others before one or two fell.
Hwang Min-hyeok, a visitor to Itaewon, told news channel YTN that seeing rows of bodies near the hotel was shocking.
He claimed that initially, emergency personnel were overwhelmed, leaving pedestrians struggling to provide CPR to the injured lying on the streets. People wept beside their friends' bodies, he said.
According to Yonhap news agency, another survivor in his twenties said he managed to get into a bar whose door was open in the alley.
A woman in her twenties named Park said she and others were standing along the alley's edge, while those caught in the middle had no way out.
While Western-style trick-or-treating is not common in South Korea, Halloween-themed parties and events are becoming increasingly popular among young South Koreans, and Itaewon is the country's hottest spot for such events, with bars, clubs, and restaurants hosting costume contests.
Governments and Authority
The international character of Itaewon was shaped by its proximity to a nearby US military garrison. The neighborhood still has restaurants, bars, and other businesses that cater to Seoul's American community.
Itaewon is less than a mile from the Yongsan Garrison, which served as the headquarters for US Forces Korea and the United Nations Command until 2017.
Since then, US forces have relocated their South Korean headquarters to Pyeongtaek, a city 70 kilometers south of Seoul, leaving only a small contingent in Yongsan while handing over the land to the South Korean government.
Even after losing the majority of its American military clients, Itaewon has remained a popular destination for both South Koreans and foreign visitors, who are drawn to the district's buzzing and boozy nightlife as well as its international flair. American barbecue and Middle Eastern kebab restaurants coexist with Irish pubs and traditional Japanese-style bars.
Police and local government agencies are likely to be chastised for their failure to prevent the tragic event. In advance, 200 officers were stationed in Itaewon to help prevent sex crimes, drug trafficking, and theft.
Crowd control, however, was not included in their plans, despite the fact that 100,000 people were expected to congregate in the area on Saturday, according to local news reports.
Chung Sang-man, executive director of the Korea Institute of Disaster and Safety, said authorities had remained unresponsive despite the fact that large crowds were expected in Itaewon over the weekend.
Chonnam National University political science professor Yoon Sung-suk said the tragedy was "apparently waiting to happen" due to the lack of safety measures and personnel in the nightlife zone despite large crowds.
“This year’s Halloween events were well expected to draw a much larger number of people than previous years as young people began to enjoy the nightlife without Covid-19 face masks,” he said.
“South Koreans have apparently failed to take any lessons from earlier disasters such as the Sampoong Department Store collapse and the Sewol Ferry.”
Most Halloween events in South Korea have since been canceled, including the One Asia Festival, which was originally scheduled for Sunday in Busan and expected to draw 40,000 people to see K-pop stars perform.
The tragedy was the worst since the infamous Sewol ferry disaster, which killed 304 people, mostly high-school boys on a school excursion.
In 2003, an arson attack on a subway station in Daegu, South Korea, killed 192 people and injured 151 others.
In 1995, the Sampoong Department Store in Seoul collapsed, killing 502 people and injuring 937 others in a disaster caused by human error, including illegal structural changes to increase space.
The West Sea ferry capsized off the coast of France in 1993, killing 292 passengers. It was Asia's second major crushing disaster in less than a month.
“I’m hugely shocked and deeply saddened by the extremely tragic accident in Itaewon, Seoul, that took many precious lives, including those of young people with their future ahead of them,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a tweet.
Reporting by AFP, Reuters, Associated Press, and South China Morning Post
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