In the wake of a deadly crowd surge at a Halloween festival, photos and witness accounts provided devastating details about how the chaos unfolded.
More than 150 people died and more than 80 were injured. The death toll included 19 foreigners and the incident occurred after a large crowd celebrating Halloween surged into a narrow alley in the Itaewon nightlife area, according to officials.
A chaotic scene of victims' costumes and emergency responders trying to attend to the crowd was shown in photos.
Tens of thousands of people were in the area, which was the first large gathering with no masks since the Pandemic.
Most of the victims were in their 20s, according to officials.
A high school student who got stuck in the crowd with her friend told The New York Times how she narrowly escaped.
People fell on top of me. I didn't have enough time to breathe. The music in the alley was so loud that the shouts of help were drowned out.
Adults pulled Kim and her friend out of the crowd and into a bar.
According to two witnesses, what happened in the alley looked like a scene from a movie.
One witness said it was out of control.
The other witness said that the place was too crowded.
A period of national mourning was declared by the president of South Korea.
He said he struggles to cope with his grief. The President said that he was responsible for people's safety.
The officials have been told to conduct an emergency review of all Halloween celebrations.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
