Halloween horror in Seoul: How a crowd crush killed more than a hundred people

On Saturday night, people wearing masks and Halloween costumes got caught in a crowd crush surge in South Korea's capital, Seoul, that turned into a tragedy, claiming the lives of some 154 people and injuring another 133.

It happened in Itaweon, a trendy district in Seoul. It was the first post-pandemic Halloween that was celebrated without capacity restrictions or masks, so tens of thousands of people packed the area.

There were many factors that came together to create the tragedy that will be remembered for decades.

Many of the videos on social media have made it possible to see that the crowd crush took place in the worst possible place: a narrow alley, just 4-5 meters wide (13-14 feet) and going downhill.

The images in those videos are of real anguish. The 45 meters long (147 feet) of the alley, completely collapsed with people trying to flee but without any possibility of doing so, while others were trampled by the mob of people.

The Yonhap agency has praised the rapid action of the authorities, noting that they mobilized more than 1,700 emergency troops, 517 firefighters and 1,100 policemen, that unfortunately could not avoid a historic death toll.

Those who experienced the nightmare, such as Suah Cho, a 23-year-old who recounted her experience on CNN, said that "it was all panic", and it lasted for about 15 eternal minutes.

"People climbed the walls to survive," the young woman recalled to CNN.

"Everyone started running and the people who were below were crushed. The crowded people reached up to five and six levels," she said.

The fact that it was Halloween night made it impossible to know if the policemen in the area were policemen or citizens in disguise, a witness told CNN.

It’s not unusual for Itaewon to have crowded streets on a regular basis, as it is a popular and trendy area where Seoul’s nightlife scene takes place: it’s full of clubs, bars, and restaurants.

However, the night of the  Halloween tragedy, Itaewon welcomed some 100,000 people, which would imply 10 times more than usual, according to the BBC.

Precisely, this increase in people was what surprised the authorities, as indicated by the Minister of the Interior, Lee Sang Mon, who said that no more police than the usual were deployed in the area, because such a crowd was not expected.

One of people’s big criticisms on social media is that the alley had been extremely crowded for hours before the incident happened and no crowd control was taking place.

Others blamed owners of bars and clubs for the high death toll, accusing them of blocking people that were trying to escape the crush.

The head of the Fire Department, Choi Seong-bum has confirmed that 95 of the deceased were in their twenties and another 32 were in their thirties, which gives an idea of the average age of those involved in the crowd crush.

A few hours after the tragedy, the families of the victims gathered at a center near Itaewon, where officials compiled the names of the deceased and missing. So far, more than 90% of victims have been identified.

The Seoul Metropolitan government, which had issued emergency text messages urging those in Itaewon to swiftly return home, said on Sunday that it has received reports of 355 missing people following the disaster.

The government added that 60 staff members have been assigned to about 50 hospitals to support the bereaved families of the victims.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has decreed a week of national mourning, while the causes of the incident are investigated, focusing on security and crowd control measures applied.

The incident is the deadliest in the country’s history, since the Sewol ferry sinking in 2014, when 304 people died, mostly high school students.