Tragedy in Seoul: how the incident in South Korea in which 150 people died

At least 150 people died on Saturday night in a stampede of thousands of young people celebrating Halloween in the narrow streets of a popular neighborhood in downtown Seúl. The BBC analyzes how the tragedy unfolded.

In the early hours of Saturday afternoon, thousands of people, mostly young people, had gathered in Itaewon, in the center of the South Korean capital, a lively party spot whose war-like streets and alleys are lined with bars and restaurants.

Stampede in Seoul: how the tragedy in South Korea in which they died 120 people https://t.co/PbbAdKkf9M

— BBC News Mundo (@bbcmundo) October 22, 2022

According to some people testimonials, 32,000 people attended the area to celebrate Halloween, excited by the prospect of partying again This is after two years of strict restrictions due to covid in the country.

Nuhyil Ahammed, of 23 years, was in the crowd. This IT worker from India lives nearby and has been attending Halloween parties in Itaewon for five years in a row.

Last year the celebrations had been lively, but under control, with the police preventing people from entering crowded areas. This year things were very different, he said.

“It was crazy,” he told the BBC. “From 5 in the afternoon there were too many people in the streets. So I thought, what will it be like after seven or eight?”

Nuhyil Ahammed managed to get out of the crowd.

Around that time, messages were posted on social networks with people saying that the streets of the district they were so crowded that they felt unsafe.

Ahammed and a group of friends spent the afternoon in Itaewon, near a narrow, uphill alley , next to the main street of the district that was about to become the main focus of the tragedy.

“We always go to this alley”, he commented. “I don’t know why, but there are always good bars and people dressed up”.

At 11 of the night it was clear that something was wrong, and a worried Ahammed was involved in a huge crowd of people.

“People started to push from behind, it was like a wave, nothing could be done”, he recalled. “Even if you were standing, someone was pushing you from behind and from the front.”

Ahammed fell to the ground, but managed to climb over the crowd by some steps located on the side of the alley.

Were around the 22: 20 local time (13: 20 GMT) when the situation she became desperate. Several people who were on the slope fell, causing a massive crush. The crowd pressing in from both ends of the narrow street meant that no one could get out.

“The people were suffocating, screaming… squeezing… falling… there were too many people”, said the young man from 32 years.

“I was on the step watching how everything was happening, people taking their last breaths… I felt powerless to see those people suffocating.”

“We couldn’t do anything, that was the main trauma”

Ana, a Spaniard from 24 years, was also in the area, with her friend Melissa, a german from 02 years. The couple was in a bar and trying to go out at 19: 00 local time (14: 00 GMT) when they saw the ambulances entering the alley and the police asking people to move to make way for the bodies and the wounded.

“There were so many people that they needed normal people to do CPR. So everyone he left to help “, Ana told the BBC.

She also told how two friends of hers who knew how to do CPR came to help, but some people died at their hands .

Ana also went to help, following the instructions she was given.

“They told me how to hold their heads and open their mouths, and things like that. I was trying to help but they were dead too. I have to say that all the people they brought in to do CPR, most of them were no longer breathing, so nothing could be done.”

“Nope we couldn’t do anything, that was the main trauma” , she added.

His words coincide with the numerous videos recorded at the scene in which dozens of people are seen trying to perform CPR on the corpses lining the street.

A BBC reporter who was at the scene said that he saw several ambulances, thousands of people and many bodies covered with blue sheets. Ambulances struggled to get through the throng of people.

Reports from the authorities

As usually happens in a tragedy as fast as this, the news about what happened was appearing little by little.

The first reports said that some 50 people had suffered cardiac arrest – a common cause of death during a crush – but the grim photographs of body bags littering the streets made it clear that this was a greater tragedy.

The first confirmed death toll was issued at 02: 31 local time (17: 20 GMT). Authorities said that 30 people had died and others 150 were injured. An hour later, the figure rose to 59 dead and 100 wounded, and increased even more as the night progressed, soon surpassing the 150.

Ahammed stated that even hours after the tragedy occurred, people in the area were still partying, and music was still playing in some bars and clubs in the area. It is not clear whether these stores and their customers were aware of the seriousness of what was happening around them.