Rescue teams work on the scene where dozens of individuals were injured in a stampede during a Halloween festival in Seoul, South Korea, October 29, 2022.
Kim Hong-ji | Reuters
At the least 146 people were killed and 150 more were injured as they were crushed by a big crowd pushing forward on a narrow street during Halloween festivities within the capital of Seoul, South Korean officials said.
Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul’s Yongsan fire department, said the death toll could rise and that an unspecified number among the many injured were in critical conditions following the stampede in Itaewon on Saturday night.
Officials say people were crushed to death after a big crowd began pushing forward in a narrow alley near Hamilton Hotel, a serious party spot in Seoul.
Greater than 800 emergency staff and law enforcement officials from across the nation, including all available personnel in Seoul, were deployed to the streets to treat the injured.
The National Fire Agency individually said in an announcement that officials were still trying to find out the precise variety of emergency patients.
TV footage and photos showed ambulance vehicles lined up in streets amid a heavy police presence and emergency staff moving the injured in stretchers. Emergency staff and pedestrians were also seen performing CPR on people lying within the streets.
In a single section, paramedics were seen checking the status of a dozen or more individuals who lied motionless under blue blankets.
Police, which were restricting traffic in nearby areas to hurry up the transportation of the injured to hospitals across the town, also confirmed that dozens of individuals were being given CPR on Itaewon streets. The Seoul Metropolitan Government issued emergency text messages urging people in the realm to swiftly return home.
Some local media reports earlier said the crush happened after a lot of people rushed to an Itaewon bar after hearing an unidentified celebrity visited there.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued an announcement calling for officials to make sure swift treatment for those injured and review the security of the festivity sites. He also instructed the Health Ministry to swiftly deploy disaster medical assistance teams and secure beds in nearby hospital to treat the injured.
Local media said around 100,000 people flocked to Itaewon streets for the Halloween festivities, which were the largest because the start of the pandemic following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in recent months.
