Seoul Halloween stampede: Panicked emergency calls reveal crowd’s surge fears
Country’s interior minister and Seoul mayor offer public apologies, vowing to find out cause of incident
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Your support makes all the difference.Emergency call transcripts from the hours and minutes prior to the huge crowd surge in South Korea which killed 156 people have revealed Halloween revellers’ fears of the impending disaster in Itaewon.
“People will get crushed to death here. It’s chaotic,” a caller said in one of 11 transcripts released by Seoul police. At least one caller urged the authorities to help ease the huge crowds, while another warned: “People are falling down on the streets, looks like there could be an accident.”
Police have since admitted “heavy responsibility“ for failures in preventing and responding to the crowd surge, with South Korea’s interior minister and Seoul’s mayor also offering public apologies amid growing public anger.
National police chief Yoon Hee Keun said police officers who received urgent calls from those in the crowds failed to handle them effectively, adding: “Police will do their best to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again.”
President Yoon Suk-yeol has launched a major inquiry and called for new safety measures to prevent such a disaster from happening again.
How Seoul Halloween crush that killed 154 and injured 149 unfolded in real time
Lee Ji-han: 24-year-old South Korean actor died in Seoul crowd crush, agency confirms
Two American college students among the 154 people killed in Seoul crowd disaster
Seoul crowd crush survivor says ‘people filmed while my friends were dying’
Families of foreign nationals killed in stampede share tributes
Of the 154 killed in the stampede, 26 people were foreign nationals.
One of the Americans killed was Anne Gieske, a University of Kentucky nursing student from northern Kentucky who was doing a study-abroad program in South Korea, the university said in a statement. The other was Steven Blesi, 20, his father, Steve Blesi, wrote on Twitter after earlier seeking information about his son.
Blesi appealed for information after not hearing from his son, asking, “If anyone has any news please share.” After a flood of responses offering help and support, he tweeted, “We just got confirmation our son died,” followed by “Thank you for the outpouring of love. We need time to grieve.”
Australian victim Grace Rached, a Sydney film production assistant, was described by her family as “our life of the party.” Her family said in a statement that “We are missing our gorgeous angel Grace, who lit up the room with her infectious smile.”
The Japanese dead included Mei Tomikawa, who was studying Korean language in Seoul, according to Japanese media. Her father, Ayumu Tomikawa, told Japanese public broadcaster NHK that his daughter “really liked South Korea and was enjoying her life there.”
Seoul crowd crush survivor says ‘people filmed while my friends were dying’
An Australian survivor of the Halloween crowd crush in Seoul has told of how people filmed, sang and laughed while his friends were dying.
At least 154 people are believed to have died in the Itaewon stampede on Saturday, while 132 others are reported to have been injured, including 37 in serious condition, amid fears this number will rise in the coming days.
Those killed or hurt were mostly teenagers and people in their twenties, according to Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul‘s Yongsan fire department.
Emily Atkinson reports.
Seoul crowd crush survivor says ‘people filmed while my friends were dying’
Those killed or hurt were mostly teenagers and people in their twenties
How Seoul Halloween crush that killed 154 and injured 149 unfolded in real time
South Korea is in a one-week shock mourning after the country’s citizens witnessed one of the worst disasters that happened overnight in years and caused the deaths of 154 people and leaving almost as many injured.
A night that was supposed to be a stress-free celebration of Halloween after two years of pandemic restrictions in the streets of Seoul led instead to a massive pile-up that prompted the country’s prime minister Han Duck-soo to announce a stringent probe into the night’s events.
The crush happened when a massive 100,000-plus crowd of revellers on Saturday flocked for festivities in the district of Itaewon in Seoul – a metropolis known for its tough living conditions and punishing, cramped living and public spaces for its residents.
How Seoul Halloween crush that killed 154 and injured 149 unfolded in real time
People out for celebration in Itaewon district piled up ‘like a wave’ and fell ‘like dominoes’
King Charles sends condolences to South Korea after more than 150 killed in Seoul stampede
Pictured: mourners react near the scene of the tragic crush in Seoul
Empty streets in nightlife district as city mourns
The streets of Itaewon were virtually empty for Halloween tonight, as the city mourns the scores of people who lost their lives at the weekend.
Many of those in the deadly crowd crush had been out to celebrate the festivities early on Saturday night when tragedy ensued.
Shops have closed and concerts cancelled as the nation enters a period of national mourning.
Seoul stampede: Fire chief shakes as he discusses victims in wake of tragedy
Seoul crowd crush survivor says ‘people filmed while my friends were dying’
An Australian survivor of the Halloween crowd crush in Seoul has told of how people filmed, sang and laughed while his friends were dying.
At least 154 people are believed to have died in the Itaewon stampede on Saturday, while 132 others are reported to have been injured, including 37 in serious condition, amid fears this number will rise in the coming days.
Those killed or hurt were mostly teenagers and people in their twenties, according to Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul‘s Yongsan fire department.
Seoul crowd crush survivor says ‘people filmed while my friends were dying’
Those killed or hurt were mostly teenagers and people in their twenties
Seoul stampede: Densely packed crowd surges in Halloween party event
How Seoul Halloween crush that killed 154 and injured 149 unfolded in real time
South Korea is in a one-week shock mourning after the country’s citizens witnessed one of the worst disasters that happened overnight in years and caused the deaths of 154 people and leaving almost as many injured.
A night that was supposed to be a stress-free celebration of Halloween after two years of pandemic restrictions in the streets of Seoul led instead to a massive pile-up that prompted the country’s prime minister Han Duck-soo to announce a stringent probe into the night’s events.
The crush happened when a massive 100,000-plus crowd of revellers on Saturday flocked for festivities in the district of Itaewon in Seoul – a metropolis known for its tough living conditions and punishing, cramped living and public spaces for its residents.
How Seoul Halloween crush that killed 154 and injured 149 unfolded in real time
People out for celebration in Itaewon district piled up ‘like a wave’ and fell ‘like dominoes’
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