At least 146 people died and 150 were injured in a stampede in Seoul during a Halloween party that drew thousands of people through the narrow streets of a district in the capital. South KoreansWe learned from an official source.
“At 4:00 a.m. (local time), 146 people were killed and 150 injured,” Choi Seong-beom, a fire official from the South Korean capital, told reporters at the scene of the disaster.
Earlier estimates put the death toll at 120 and hundreds injured. “The high death toll is due to many people being trampled during the count Party Halloween,” he added.
Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified witness as saying the victims were crushed by the crowd. “People were on top of each other. Some gradually lost consciousness, others apparently died,” he said. The fire chief said 74 bodies have been sent to hospitals and another 46 bodies are now in the gymnasium.
140 ambulances have been deployed
Firefighters in the South Korean capital first reported dozens of people suffering heart attacks in central Seoul’s Itaewon district. In South Korea, rescue officials talk about a heart attack until a doctor officially declares a person dead.
A fire department spokesperson said 140 ambulances have been sent to the scene to treat the victims. Victims of overcrowding appear to be trapped in this district, where Halloween celebrations bring together the largest number of people in the South Korean capital.
According to Yonhap, the stampede occurred near the Hamilton Hotel, where the crowd rushed into a narrow alley. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has called for hospitals to be ready to rescue the injured, the presidential office said. Oh Se-hoon, the mayor of Seoul, visited there EuropeMeanwhile, according to Yonhap, I decided to hurry because of the drama.
The first parties after the pandemic
Photos released by Yonhap showed more than a dozen people lying on a street, with rescuers performing CPR on some of them, as police surrounded the crowd.
According to video footage, around 20 bodies were covered with sheets or blankets, however, rescuers made no effort to revive them. Other victims were taken out on stretchers to ambulances.
This year’s Halloween celebrations will be the first since the Covid-19 pandemic in which South Koreans have been forced to wear masks outdoors.
“France is on your side,” says Macron
The President French Emmanuel Macron He expressed “a moving thought for the residents of Seoul and all Korean people” on Saturday evening after at least 146 people were killed in a stampede in the South Korean capital.
“France is on your side,” said the head of state TwitterDuring its prime Elizabeth Bourne expressed his “very strong emotion”.
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