The Halloween party which was held in Itaewon, South Korea turned into a tragic tragedy. A total of 153 people died due to overcrowding. This is the first year the Itaweon area has held a Halloween party without a mask after 3 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On October 29, 2022, crowds are predicted to be more than 100,000 people.
The incident occurred in a small alley, not far from the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon. The alley was reportedly only enough for one sedan to enter while there were too many people gathered in the alley. Itaewon is indeed a 'melting pot', or a gathering place for tourists in South Korea. The area is known for its restaurants and cafes
One of the nightclub officers at the scene of the incident spoke about the situation at the time. Holding back tears, he recounted the horrors he saw with his own eyes. "I started hearing people say, 'Please don't push!' But the people in the back say, 'Push!' People started screaming because they were squashed," he told reporters from MBC.
"A lot of people fell and passed out near the entrance. I thought about helping them first, but I was far behind and got crushed too. People were holding on to my arms and legs. I realized then I couldn't do anything because I was just alone. People are holding on to me, asking for help," he continued.
The victims are known to be teenagers up to their 20s. Of the victims who died, 22 people were foreign nationals. Quoted from Yonhap, the victims were foreign nationals from Iran, China, Uzbekistan, and Norway. In addition, the victims who died also included military officers.
It was reported that 3 people died and 4 others were injured. The Seoul city government previously admitted to receiving more than 3,000 reports of missing persons in less than 24 hours since the incident occurred. As of October 30, 2022 until 14:00 South Korean time, at least 3,480 missing persons reports were received.
A total of 3,493 were by phone calls and 87 were visits. It is known, the number of missing persons reports in Seoul has increased drastically. At 08.40 local time, 355 cases were reported, then at 11.40 local time there were 2,249 complaints, and 2,642 cases at 12.00 local time.
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