At least 146 dead in Halloween stampede

AFP, Seoul South Korea – At least 146 people died and 100 were injured on Saturday in an apparent stampede of thousands of people gathered in the narrow streets of a neighborhood in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, to celebrate Halloween, authorities reported.

“As of 2:30 am [Sunday], 122 were killed and 100 were injured,” a fire department official, Choi Sung-bum, told reporters at the scene.

The incident occurred in the popular neighborhood of Itaewon, where thousands of people crowded its narrow streets to celebrate Halloween, authorities said.

A spokesman told AFP that more than 140 ambulances had been sent to the scene.

The incident, which according to firefighters occurred at 10:22 p.m. local time (1:22 p.m. GMT), appears to be the consequence of a stampede in the streets of the area.

“The high number of casualties was due to many being trampled during the Halloween event,” Choi said, adding that the death toll could rise.

Firefighters initially told the Yonhap news agency that about 50 people were being treated after suffering cardiac arrest.

In South Korea, rescue services refer to cardiac arrest until a doctor officially declares a person dead.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered first aid teams to be sent to the scene and asked hospitals to prepare to receive the injured.

Photos published by Yonhap showed more than a dozen people lying on a street and rescuers giving heart massages to some of them.

Police in yellow vests cordoned off the area and rescuers carried some victims on stretchers to ambulances.

In other images recorded by video, you can see about 20 bodies covered with blankets.

It is the first time that Halloween has been celebrated in the Asian country since the start of the covid-19 pandemic in 2020.