Itaewon party turned into a nightmare; Yun declared a period of national mourning.
A festive night in Itaewon, a popular nightlife district of Seoul, turned deadly on Saturday in one of Korea’s worst peacetime disasters.
The tragedy took place in a narrow, sloping street next to the Hamilton Hotel, amid crowds of people. As of 5:00 p.m., authorities have confirmed that 153 people have been killed and 82 injured. Most of the victims were in their teens and late 20s. The death toll may increase further as the condition of some of the injured is critical.
Police said 140 of the dead have been identified, including foreign nationals from Uzbekistan, China, Iran and Norway.
The fire authorities received the first report of the incident at 10:24 pm. Witnesses said people suddenly “toppled like dominoes” and screamed for help.
“After some people slipped and fell, others fell like dominoes and it didn’t seem like anyone could get out,” an eyewitness told JEE News’ sister paper Hankook Elbo. “It was total chaos.”
With the streets so crowded and noisy, emergency workers were unable to treat patients quickly. Overwhelmed by the number of victims, paramedics asked pedestrians to perform CPR. Emergency personnel and doctors who later treated them at hospitals said most of the victims died of cardiac arrest as a result of suffocation, caused by the pressure of being trapped under other bodies.
An estimated 100,000 people gathered in the area for the first Halloween since remaining COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. Many of the party goers were dressed in Halloween costumes.
President Yoon Seok-yul declared national mourning in a direct address to the nation from his office the next day. Yongsan District was designated as a special disaster zone.
“It’s really devastating,” Yoon said. “This tragedy, which should not have happened, happened in the middle of Seoul in the middle of Halloween (weekend)… As the president responsible for the lives and safety of the people, I feel my heart heavy and overcome my sadness. I can’t keep it.”
The President said he would direct the Ministry of Interior and Safety and other relevant government agencies to conduct an emergency review of all major events planned for the coming months to prevent such tragedies from happening again. He then ordered a thorough investigation into the incident.
After his speech, Yoon visited the crash site before presiding over an emergency meeting at Seoul’s government complex.
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office immediately launched an investigation team into the case. Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon instructed prosecutors to cooperate closely with the police to find the cause of the incident.
Some witnesses claim that several young men deliberately pushed too hard people down from them while yelling “Push!” Others say some nearby stores refused to accept people who were trying to avoid the crush at the last minute.
The Seoul city government said it would set up a temporary memorial site for the victims at Seoul Plaza. Mayor Oh Si-hoon, who was on a business trip in Europe, decided to cut his trip short and returned to the city.
Leaders of the ruling People’s Power Party (PPP) and the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) expressed their condolences to the bereaved families and vowed to help them recover from the tragedy.
“The government and the ruling party will do their best for [speedy] recovery,” PPP interim head Rep. Chung Jin-seok said during a session in the National Assembly. “Please bear with us as we walk through this disaster together.”
DPK chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung called it an “unbelievable, shocking” incident.
“I can’t even think of words for people who have lost family members or friends,” he said. “We will focus on helping them recover quickly. We must also support the recovery efforts of police, firefighters and medical workers.”
The stampede was the deadliest in the nation’s capital since the 1995 Sampong department store collapse, which killed 502 people and injured 937 others. It was also the deadliest crushing disaster in Korean history. Earlier, in 1960, 31 people died after being crushed on the steps of a train station in Seoul as a large crowd arrived to board a train to Mokpo during the Lunar New Year holiday. More recently, 11 people were killed and about 60 others injured at a pop concert in Sungju, North Gyeongsang Province in 2005.
