Seoul Halloween crowd crush: What we understand up until now

At least 151 individuals have actually been eliminated in a stampede as Halloween events were underway on a narrow street in the South Korean capital, Seoul, authorities have actually stated.

At least 82 others were hurt, 19 of them seriously, in the crowd crush in the city’s Itaewon district on Saturday night.

Here is what you require to understand:

What occurred?

• The catastrophe occurred after about 10: 00 pm regional time (13: 00 GMT) on Saturday, after a big crowd commemorating Halloween thronged a narrow street in the home entertainment district of Itaewon.
• The very first calls for assistance came at around 10: 15 pm (13: 15 GMT), according to the Yonhap news firm.
• More than 800 emergency situation employees, consisting of 346 firemens, and 140 rescue lorries were released to deal with the hurt, fire authorities stated.
• Police validated lots of individuals were offered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the streets, while others were required to neighboring medical facilities.

Many eliminated, hurt

• At least 151 individuals were eliminated, and 82 others were hurt throughout the occurrence. Authorities stated the death toll might increase even more as emergency situation teams continued rescue efforts.
• ” People were layered on top of others like a burial place. Some were slowly losing their awareness while some looked dead by that point,” the Yonhap news company pointed out a witness as stating.
• Choi Seong-beom, a fire authorities, stated the majority of the victims were ladies and youths in their 20 s.
• Those eliminated consisted of 19 immigrants, Choi stated. They consist of individuals from Iran, Uzbekistan, China and Norway, he stated.
• A medical professional who administered emergency treatment to victims explained scenes of catastrophe and turmoil. “When I initially tried CPR there were 2 victims resting on the pavement. The number blew up quickly after, surpassing very first responders at the scene,” Lee Beom-suk informed regional broadcaster YTN. “So lots of victims’ faces were pale. I might not capture their pulse or breath and a number of them had a bloody nose. When I attempted CPR, I likewise pumped blood out of their mouths.”
• Several videos published on social networks appeared to reveal individuals carrying out CPR on victims depending on the street. Other videos appeared to reveal lots of individuals covered with blue plastic sheets at the roadside.
• Seoul’s Metropolitan federal government stated it has actually gotten reports about 355 missing individuals following the crowd crush.

Reactions

• Al Jazeera’s Musun Kim, reporting from Seoul, stated lots of people in the city would keep up through the night “with a sense of shock, questioning how this might have taken place”.
• South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol stated a duration of nationwide grieving on Sunday. “This is genuinely terrible,” he stated in a declaration. “A catastrophe and catastrophe that ought to not have actually occurred in the heart of Seoul last night.”
• Authorities stated they were examining the specific reason for the occurrence.
• Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who was on a check out to Europe, chose to return house in the wake of the catastrophe, Yonhap reported, pointing out city authorities.
• United States President Joe Biden and his spouse sent their acknowledgements and composed: “We grieve with individuals of the Republic of Korea and send our finest want a fast healing to all those who were hurt.”
• UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the event “dreadful”. “All our ideas are with those presently reacting and all South Koreans at this extremely stressful time”, he composed on Twitter.

Source

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Al Jazeera and news companies