South Korea declares national mourning period as at least 151 killed in Halloween crowd crush
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At least four Chinese nationals among the dead
2:57 a.m.
Police did not send extra personnel for Halloween
1:56 a.m.
‘Just chaos’: Two tourists watched in horror from the ninth floor
1:09 a.m.
Seeking loved ones at a missing-persons center
12:52 a.m.
U.S. Forces in South Korea offer condolences over tragedy
12:45 a.m.
‘I saw people dying in front of me’
11:49 p.m.
Scores reported missing after crowd crush at Halloween
11:24 p.m.
Photos: South Korean president visits accident site
11:15 p.m.
At least one U.S. citizen injured
10:45 p.m.
Itaewon residents left shocked
10:28 p.m.
‘The police should have been ready’
10:17 p.m.
South Korea declares period of national mourning
9:48 p.m.
I’m walking near the scene of last night’s...
9:37 p.m.
Photos: The items they left behind
8:38 p.m.
Among the dead, a 24-year-old celebrating his birthday
8:28 p.m.
Key updates
South Korea declares period of national mourning
What is a crowd crush, and why does it happen?
Graphic: Seoul Halloween crowd disaster among 21st century’s deadliest
1:26
Videos show chaotic scenes as rescuers rushed to save people trapped in the Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul on Oct. 29 after a crowd surge at a Halloween event. (Video: The Washington Post)
By Michelle Ye Hee Lee, Kelly Kasulis Cho, Bryan Pietsch, Meryl Kornfield, Justine McDaniel, Praveena Somasundaram and Rachel Pannett
Updated October 30, 2022 at 2:57 a.m. EDT|Published October 29, 2022 at 12:24 p.m.
SEOUL — South Korea’s president declared a period of national mourning Sunday after at least 151 people died and about 82 were injured Saturday night in an apparent crowd crush during Halloween celebrations in the Itaewon area of Seoul.
“I’m devastated. In the center of Seoul on Halloween, a tragedy and disaster that should have not happened, happened, ” President Yoon Suk-yeol said at a news conference Sunday. He called for a thorough investigation into the cause of the deadly incident, to prevent future tragedies.
Witnesses reported a chaotic scene of partygoers crammed into narrow streets near the Itaewon subway station, some trying to leave the area after a night of celebrations. Some people couldn’t even move in the elbow-to-elbow crowd. Many couldn’t hear one another over the noise or call for help because of poor cellular service.
Nineteen among the dead were foreign nationals, fire officials said. Authorities said it’s possible the death toll will rise.
The South Korean presidential office said Yoon ordered government agencies to respond urgently and review on-site safety measures.
According to local media reports, the Halloween celebrations in Itaewon drew as many as 100,000 people.
More than 2,400 emergency responders were dispatched to the scene from agencies across the country.
Most of the dead in a 2021 concert crush were in one highly packed area, video timeline shows
1 hour ago
At least four Chinese nationals among the dead
By Lyric Li
At least four Chinese nationals were confirmed dead in the crush, the Chinese Embassy in Seoul said early Sunday afternoon.
“We are extremely anxious now and still trying to confirm the latest numbers with Korean police,” said Shang Haihai, an embassy official in charge of consular assistance to Chinese nationals in South Korea. “The dead remain unidentified, and we are waiting for police updates.”
Shang added that the embassy had been trying to contact family members of the deceased.
Two Chinese citizens sustained minor injuries and have been discharged from a hospital after medical checks. Another embassy official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to comment publicly, said the casualties among Chinese citizens could rise further
2 hours ago
Police did not send extra personnel for Halloween
By Kelly Kasulis Cho and Julie Yoon
The police did not expect Halloween crowds to be larger than in previous years and therefore did not deploy extra personnel ahead of the celebrations in Itaewon, Lee Sang-min, South Korea’s minister of interior and safety, said at a news conference around 12:30 p.m. local time on Sunday.
Lee also said that a considerable number of police were originally posted in Gwanghwamun due to a large-scale protest taking place there. The South Korean authorities normally dispatch large numbers of police officers to wait on standby at any major protest
3 hours ago
‘Just chaos’: Two tourists watched in horror from the ninth flo
By Kelly Kasulis Cho
Police guard the accident site Sunday.
Police guard the accident site Sunday. (Jean Chung for The Washington Post)
It started as a night for two tourists to get a taste of Korean Halloween. It ended with screams, oxygen pumps and horror as emergency workers pulled away from those they were trying to save, resigned to conceal their faces with towels and scraps of cloth in an alleyway that became covered with the dead, Joshua and Angela Smith of Florida said.
The siblings had booked the Hamilton Hotel specifically to experience the holiday in Itaewon during their month-long vacation in South Korea. But as they ventured into the street early in the evening Saturday, they decided there were too many people and went back to their rooms, where they had a view of the crowds.
3 hours ago
Seeking loved ones at a missing-persons center
By Bryan Pietsch
An elderly couple, moving to the waiting area at a missing-persons center in Hannam, an upscale neighborhood next to Itaewon, were visibly frustrated. The center was unable to reach a family member of theirs who had been in the deadly crowd crush the night before.
The couple were told to see if their loved one was a patient at a hospital.
But moments later, the couple rushed out of the building, wailing. The elderly man said they had received news that their family member was one of the dead.
“We called and then came all the way from a village far from here with the hopes that we’d find them as just injured in a hospital, but they were found as a body,” he said as they walked out of the center and on to the street
3 hours ago
U.S. Forces in South Korea offer condolences over tragedy
By Rachel Pannett
Top U.S. and South Korean military officials salute during an honor guard inspection at the Pentagon in October.
Top U.S. and South Korean military officials salute during an honor guard inspection at the Pentagon in October. (EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
The U.S. military command based in South Korea offered its condolences over the deadly crowd crush that happened during Halloween celebrations Saturday.
For years, United States Forces Korea maintained a sprawling military base next door to Itaewon, where the tragedy occurred. It later began moving to a new garrison south of the capital.
The neighborhood of steep, narrow streets once housed Seoul’s red-light district, catering to American troops with knockoff goods, cheap beer and other nighttime pursuits. It has been gentrified in recent decades, although it is still a haven for foreigners in a city that isn’t universally welcoming.
‘I saw people dying in front of me’
By Kelly Kasulis Cho
Dano Leemann, a restaurant manager in Itaewon, said that he saw about a dozen police officers in total “all through Itaewon” on Saturday night before the deadly accident broke out.
He was walking by a tobacco shop near the main market street when he saw about “50 people on the ground,” many of whom were receiving CPR from other partygoers and the police.
“I saw people dying in front of me,” he said. “I didn’t sleep last night.”
He said the crowds on Saturday night were about three times larger than on Friday night, and that the area this year appeared much more packed than previous Halloweens.
Scores reported missing after crowd crush at Halloween
By Bryan Pietsch and Rachel Pannett
Police officers stand guard in front of the Sooncheonhyang Hospital in Seoul where some of the victims of the crowd crush were treated.
Police officers stand guard in front of the Sooncheonhyang Hospital in Seoul where some of the victims of the crowd crush were treated. (Jean Chung for The Washington Post)
Scores of missing-persons reports have been filed following a deadly crowd crush during Halloween celebrations in Seoul on Saturday night, authorities said Sunday.
At least 151 people died and about 82 were injured Saturday night as partygoers crammed into narrow streets near the Itaewon station to celebrate what has become an increasingly popular holiday in South Korea.
At a community center in Hannam, a swanky neighborhood adjacent to Itaewon, families and friends of missing people gathered to seek and share information late Sunday morning.
Photos: South Korean president visits accident site
By Olivier Laurent
President Yoon Suk-yeol makes his way to the site of the incident in Itaewon on Sunday morning, escorted by the fire chief. (Jean Chung for The Washington Post)
On Sunday morning, South Korea’s president Yoon Suk-yeol visited the site in Itaewon where at least 151 people were killed during Halloween celebrations the night before.
At an earlier news conference, Yoon called for an investigation into the cause of the tragedy. He has also declared a period of national mourning.
A narrow alley in Itaewon, which had been filled with revelers the night before, is now blocked to the public.
A narrow alley in Itaewon, which had been filled with revelers the night before, is now blocked to the public. (Jean Chung for The Washington Post)
President Yoon Suk-yeol is briefed at the site in Itaewon where partygoers had been crushed. (Jean Chung for The Washington Post)
A South Korean flag left behind in the debris. A national period of mourning has been declared. (Jean Chung for The Washington Post)
Earlier today
At least one U.S. citizen injured
By Grace Moon
At least one U.S. citizen was injured in Saturday night’s crush, the U.S. State Department confirmed Sunday local time.
“We urge U.S. citizens in the affected areas who are safe to contact their loved ones directly and/or update their status on social media,” a spokesperson said in an email, adding that those who need immediate emergency services should contact local authorities.
The death toll rose to 151 people as of Sunday morning, 19 of them foreign nationals from countries including Iran, Norway, Uzbekistan and China, according to an official at Seoul’s Yongsan fire department. The State Department said it was working with local authorities to determine whether any additional U.S. citizens were affected.
Earlier today
Itaewon residents left shocked
By Kelly Kasulis Cho
Visitors argue at the site of the crowd crush in Itaewon, Seoul, on Oct. 30. (Jean Chung for The Washington Post)
Sitting at a cafe about a 10-minute walk from the main street of Itaewon on Sunday morning, Jua Jang, a South Korean resident, shook her head as she spoke with her husband about the casualties incurred the night before.
The couple said they were near the alley of bars where people had been crushed, about 10 minutes before reports of deaths began surfacing.
“Korean people probably won’t come here out of respect for victims” next Halloween, she said. “It wasn’t like this with so many people before. It was too crowded and we couldn’t walk in the street, so we had to leave.”
‘The police should have been ready’
By Kelly Kasulis Cho
Three friends decided on a whim to go out to a street with clubs and bars in Itaewon last night, where crowds had swelled into a deadly crush.
“It was so crowded that you could barely move,” said Marco Morelli, a six-year resident of South Korea who is originally from Spain.
He said that he and his friends were in the alley where the crowd surge was said to have begun, about 10 minutes before they started seeing reports of deaths on Twitter.
“There was a lot of confusion because so many people were dressed up as police for Halloween,” said Morelli, a former emergency aid worker.
South Korea declares period of national mourning
By Julie Yoon and Rachel Pannett
President Yoon Seok-yeol, second from left, visits the site of the crowd crush on Sunday morning.
President Yoon Seok-yeol, second from left, visits the site of the crowd crush on Sunday morning. (Jean Chung for The Washington Post)
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has declared a national mourning period after an apparent crowd crush during Halloween celebrations in Seoul on Saturday evening killed at least 149 people and injured about 75.
The president has called for an investigation into the cause of the incident, which occurred in the capital’s Itaewon nightlife area as revelers gathered for the first pandemic-era Halloween with no distancing restrictions.
“I’m devastated. In the center of Seoul on Halloween, a tragedy and disaster that should have not happened, happened,” Yoon told reporters at a news conference Sunday morning local time. “We will launch a thorough investigation, so we can better prevent a tragic event like this.”
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REPORTING FROM SEOUL
Earlier today
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By Kelly Kasulis Cho
Breaking News Reporter/Editor
I’m walking near the scene of last night’s Itaewon tragedy — and so far things look like business as usual. Cafes are just starting to open on a typical sleepy morning. People are drinking coffee and talking about last night, speculating among themselves about what sparked the crowd crush.
The Washington Post
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