A minimum of 146 individuals had been killed and 150 extra had been injured as they had been crushed by a big crowd pushing ahead on a slender avenue throughout Halloween festivities within the capital of Seoul, South Korean officers stated.
Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul’s Yongsan hearth division, stated the demise toll may rise and that an unspecified quantity among the many injured had been in essential circumstances following the stampede in Itaewon on Saturday evening.
Officers say individuals had been crushed to demise after a big crowd started pushing ahead in a slender alley close to Hamilton Resort, a serious celebration spot in Seoul.
YONHAP NEWS AGENCY / REUTERS
Greater than 800 emergency employees and cops from across the nation, together with all obtainable personnel in Seoul, had been deployed to the streets to deal with the injured.
The Nationwide Fireplace Company individually stated in a press release that officers had been nonetheless making an attempt to find out the precise variety of emergency sufferers.
TV footage and images from the scene confirmed ambulance automobiles lined up in streets amid a heavy police presence and emergency employees shifting the injured in stretchers. Emergency employees and pedestrians had been additionally seen performing CPR on individuals mendacity within the streets.
In a single part, paramedics had been seen checking the standing of a dozen or extra individuals who lied immobile below blue blankets.
KIM HONG-JI / REUTERS
Police, which had been proscribing visitors in close by areas to hurry up the transportation of the injured to hospitals throughout the town, additionally confirmed that dozens of individuals had been being given CPR on Itaewon streets. The Seoul Metropolitan Authorities issued emergency textual content messages urging individuals within the space to swiftly return residence.
A neighborhood police officer stated he was additionally knowledgeable {that a} stampede occurred on Itaewon’s streets the place a crowd of individuals gathered for Halloween festivities. The officer requested anonymity, saying the small print of the incident was nonetheless below investigation.
Some native media reviews earlier stated the crush occurred after a lot of individuals rushed to an Itaewon bar after listening to an unidentified celeb visited there.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a press release calling for officers to make sure swift remedy for these injured and assessment the protection of the festivity websites. He additionally instructed the Well being Ministry to swiftly deploy catastrophe medical help groups and safe beds in close by hospital to deal with the injured.
Native media stated round 100,000 individuals flocked to Itaewon streets for the Halloween festivities, which had been the largest because the begin of the pandemic following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in current months.
