At least 120 people were killed and 100 more were injured after being crushed by a large crowd pushing forward on a narrow street during Halloween festivities in the capital Seoul, South Korean officials said.
Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul’s Yongsan fire department, said the death toll could grow as emergency workers were continuing to transport the injured to hospitals across Seoul following the stampede in the leisure district of Itaewon Saturday night.
He said 13 of the dead have been sent to hospitals while the bodies of the remaining 46 were still on the streets.
Choi also said more than 400 emergency workers and 140 vehicles from around the nation, including all available personnel in Seoul, were deployed to the streets to treat the injured.
It was believed that people were crushed to death after a large crowd began pushing forward in a narrow alley near Hamilton Hotel, a major party spot in Seoul.
“The area is still chaotic so we are still trying to figure out the exact number of people injured,” Moon Hyun-joo, an official at the National Fire Agency said.
Emergency workers and pedestrians were seen performing CPR on people lying in the streets.
Multiple people, apparently among those injured, were seen covered in yellow blankets.
Police also confirmed that dozens of people were being given CPR on Itaewon streets while many others have been taken to nearby hospitals.
A local police officer said he was also informed that a stampede occurred on Itaewon’s streets where a crowd of people gathered for Halloween festivities.
Local media said around 100,000 people flocked to Itaewon streets for the Halloween festivities, which were the biggest in years following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in recent months.
