An estimated 100,000 people had gathered in Itaewon for the country's biggest outdoor Halloween festivities since the pandemic began and strict rules on gatherings were enforced.
The tragic deaths of at least 151 people, mostly in their teens and 20s, who got trapped and crushed on Saturday night after a huge Halloween party crowd surged into a narrow alley in a nightlife district in Seoul, has left South Korea in a state of shock and mourning.
Being touted as the worst disaster in South Korea in decades, the incident has also left 82 people injured and 19 of them are in critical condition.
An estimated 100,000 people had gathered in Itaewon for the country's biggest outdoor Halloween festivities since the pandemic began and strict rules on gatherings were enforced. This was the first big chance to get out and party for many young people since the government eased Covid-19 restrictions.
While Halloween isn't a traditional holiday in South Korea, where children rarely go trick-or-treating, it's still a major attraction for young adults, and costume parties at bars and clubs have become hugely popular in recent years.
It was not immediately clear what led the crowd to surge into the narrow downhill alley near the Hamilton Hotel, a major party hub in Seoul. However, eyewitness accounts claim that as the crowd swelled in the narrow alley, people started "falling like dominos". A survivor of the incident was quoted by Associated Press as saying that many people fell and toppled one another “like dominos” after they were pushed by others.
Yet another described disturbing scenes from the aftermath of the stampede: bodies lined up by the side of the hotels, people wailing beside their deceased loved ones or friends, and pedestrians struggling to perform CPR as the emergency workers stood overwhelmed.
A survivor in his 20s said he avoided being trampled by managing to get into a bar whose door was open in the alley, Yonhap news agency reported. A woman in her 20s surnamed Park told Yonhap that she and others were standing along the side of the alley while others caught in the middle of the alley had no escape.
A video shared by Twitter user @janelles_story shows the street moments before the crowd surged. The narrow street was packed to the brim with revelers and elaborately costumed partygoers. At first, the crowd appears calm. But withing moments, a commotion begins and the crowd begins to swell. One of the women in the video can be heard screaming "Sh*t! Sh*t" in the background while another is heard screaming "Oh no".
Those killed or hurt were mostly teens and people in their 20s, according to Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul's Yongsan fire department.
The dead included 19 foreigners wose nationalities weren't immediately released. The death toll could rise further depending on the health of the survivors currently receiving treatment.
Itaewon, near where the former headquarters of U.S. military forces in South Korea operated before moving out of the capital in 2018, is an expat-friendly district known for its trendy bars, clubs and restaurants and it's the city's marquee Halloween destination.
(With inputs from AP)