At least 149 crushed to death in Seoul stampede following Halloween festivities

SEOUL, South Korea — At least 151 people were killed and 82 others were injured in a crowd surge Saturday night during Halloween festivities in a popular nightlife district, officials said, one of the biggest disasters in the country that will likely raise questions about public safety standards.

Most of the victims were people in their late teens and 20s, said Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul’s Yongsan fire department. Of the injured, 19 are in critical condition while 63 have less severe injuries, Choi indicated in an update Sunday morning.

The crowd had gathered in the narrow alley in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood to celebrate Halloween, officials have said. The incident was first reported around 10:15 p.m. Saturday, local time.

What we know about the deadly incident in Seoul

Early Sunday, Choi said the victims included 19 foreigners from China, Iran, Norway and Uzbekistan. No U.S. citizens had been identified and it was not immediately clear how many had died. An initial update reported two foreigners were dead and 15 were injured.

In a televised address Sunday morning, President Yoon Suk-yeol declared a period of national mourning period, a spokesperson from his office in a text briefing.

“Last night, a tragedy and a disaster that should never happen did happen in the middle of Seoul celebrating Halloween,” Yoon said.

“As the president who bears the responsibilities for the lives and the safety of our people, I have a heavy heart and the sorrow is too much to bear,” he continued.

After the address, Yoon arrived on the scene in Itaewon and briefly toured the alley where the surge occurred. He left without speaking to reporters.

Though Choi initially described the tragedy as a stampede, video appears to depict a crowd surge, a wave of people moving forward through an overpacked crowd to the same destination.

The Itaewon Fire Station official said in an earlier televised briefing that 21 people were confirmed to have suffered cardiac arrest in the surge, and Choi said bodies were being sent to hospitals or a gym, where bereaved family members could identify them.

As morning arrived in Itaewon, a sense of quiet fell over the scene of the tragedy. Groups of stragglers still in costume wandered down streets that were lined with emergency tape. Emergency vehicles stood idle, sirens blinking, while police blocked off the entrances to the alley where the disaster occurred.

Some Halloween revelers sat stunned on the sidewalk nearby, still trying to process the events of the night before.

Lee Da-eum, 25, said she was in a nearby club when she heard that there had been an accident outside. 

“I arrived early and could already see (Itaewon) was getting too crowded,” Lee said. “Then my mom started calling and texting after she saw the news. She knew I was coming here and was so worried.”

“How could this happen?” she said. 

People fell ‘like dominoes,’ survivor says

An estimated 100,000 people gathered in Itaewon — near a former headquarters of U.S. military forces in an area known for trendy bars, clubs and restaurants — for the country’s biggest outdoor Halloween festivities since the pandemic began. The South Korean government eased Covid-19 restrictions in recent months.

One survivor said many people fell and toppled to one another “like dominoes” after they were being pushed by other people at a narrow downhill alley near Itaewon’s Hamilton Hotel.

The survivor, surnamed Kim, said some people shouted “Help me!” and others were short of breath. Kim described being trampled by other people for about 1 ½ hours before being rescued, according to the Seoul-based Hankyoreh newspaper.

Another survivor, named Lee Chang-kyu, said he saw about five to six men start pushing others before one or two began falling one by one at the start of the surge, according to the newspaper.

Video posted to social media from earlier in the evening show members of a packed crowd moving slowly down the street shoulder-to-shoulder in the same area where the surge was alleged to have taken place.

Other videos of the packed crowd show people screaming and yelling and emergency medical personnel carrying victims down a littered street that had been cleared of crowds, and another shows someone trying to escape the surge by scaling a wall.

Crowds gather around the scene of the accident in Seoul on Sunday.Jung Yeon-Je / AFP via Getty Images

It was the nation’s biggest disaster since 304 people, mostly high school students, died in a ferry sinking in April 2014. The sinking exposed lax safety rules and regulatory failures as it was partially blamed on excessive and poorly fastened cargo and a crew poorly trained for emergency situations.

The disaster will likely cause public criticism of government officials over what they’ve done to improve public safety standards since the sinking.

In his address Sunday morning, Yoon said there would be an emergency review of regional festival plans to ensure they are carried out safely.

“Most of all, it is very important to prevent similar accidents and verify the cause of the accident,” he said. “We will fundamentally address the root of the cause and make sure that such accidents are never repeated.”

‘Bodies were everywhere’

A massive response of 1,700 personnel from across the country were deployed to the scene, including about 520 firefighters and 1,100 police officers and 70 government workers. The National Fire Agency said in a statement that all of Seoul’s available emergency workers have been mobilized.

TV footage and photos showed ambulance vehicles lined up in streets amid a heavy police presence and emergency workers moving the injured in stretchers. Emergency workers and pedestrians were also seen performing CPR on people lying in the streets. In one section, paramedics were seen checking the status of a dozen or more people who lied motionless under blue blankets.

Reagan Sangwa, 43, who lives nearby, said he learned about the incident on social media as it was happening and went to see if he could help.

“It was a disaster, it was a calamity,” Sangwa said. “Bodies were everywhere. I helped with CPR on two people and they took them to the hospital.”

Police tape cordons off the entrance to one of the narrow alleys where the surge occurred in Seoul, South Korea. Thomas Maresca for NBC News

In an interview with news channel YTN, Hwang Min-hyeok, a visitor to Itaewon, said it was shocking to see rows of bodies laid down in the alley near Hamilton Hotel. He said emergency workers were initially overwhelmed, leaving pedestrians struggling to administer CPR to the injured lying on the streets. People cried beside bodies, he said.

Another survivor in his 20s said he avoided being trampled by getting into a bar that had its door open at 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 were caught in the middle.

Police, who were restricting traffic in nearby areas to speed up the transportation of the injured to hospitals across the city, also confirmed that dozens of people were being given CPR on Itaewon streets. The Seoul Metropolitan Government issued emergency text messages urging people in the area to swiftly return home.

Injured people are helped at the scene of a crushing accident in Seoul on Sunday.Lee Jin-man / AP

President Yoon ordered Prime Minister Han Duk-soo to oversee the accident management headquarters and speed up the process of identifying the victims, especially for the sake of the families waiting for their family members, according to Kim Eun-hye, senior secretary for public communications.

He also instructed the Health Ministry to swiftly deploy disaster medical assistance teams and secure beds in a nearby hospital to treat the injured.

Seoul’s city government said more than 2,000 people have called a city office in nearby Hannam-dong as of midday Sunday, reporting their relatives as out of contact and asking officials to confirm whether they were among those injured or dead.

International response

World leaders, including those from the United States, France, Canada, the U.K. and Germany, shared their condolences and words of support for South Korea, and wished the survivors a fast recovery.

“Jill and I send our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones in Seoul,” President Joe Biden said in a statement Saturday. “We grieve with the people of the Republic of Korea and send our best wishes for a quick recovery to all those who were injured.”

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a tweet that the U.S. stands ready to support the country.

Philip Goldberg, U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Korea, said he was “devastated by the tragic loss of life in Itaewon last night.”

“Please know my thoughts, and those of our team at U.S. Embassy Seoul, are with the Korean people and especially the loved ones of those who perished, as well as the many injured in this catastrophic incident,” Goldberg said in a statement.

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted his support for Seoul in the wake of the event.

“Horrific news from Seoul tonight,” the new prime minister wrote. “All our thoughts are with those currently responding and all South Koreans at this very distressing time.”

Stella Kim and Thomas Maresca reported from South Korea, and Julianne McShane reported from New York.