South Korea Halloween stampede: Distressing visuals show scenes of horror, panic

On Saturday, as tens of thousands of South Koreans flooded into the streets of the Itaewon neighborhood in Seoul to mark the Halloween celebrations, panic erupted, leading to a stampede that killed at least 153 people. In what is being described as the country's "worst disaster" in history, scores of people were injured on the scene. Many suffered from “cardiac arrest,” the fire authorities told reporters of Yonhap news agency on the scene. As the panic and chaos amongst mostly the youngsters ensued, unclear what may have caused it, Seoul dispatched nearly 1,701 emergency forces, 517 firefighters, 1,100 police officials, and 70 government workers to respond to the incident. 

People, unable to breathe, were seen strewn all across the streets

In the harrowing and nerve-wracking visuals that emerged, people, unable to breathe were seen strewn all across the streets as the emergency first responders performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation to save lives. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol dispatched a disaster medical assistance team, and the emergency crew scrambled to secure emergency beds and rush the victims to the nearby hospitals on stretchers.

Amidst the blaring ambulance and police sirens, a long queue of stretchers and wailing relatives and loved ones were witnessed. Desperate paramedics were seen in the visuals scrounging for the survivors or anyone in need of medical intervention. Several dead bodies were lined up and wrapped in body bags as people raced on the street communicating over their cellphones to establish the whereabouts of family members. 

Choi Seong-bum, chief of the Yongsan Fire Department, on Sunday told the Korean agencies that he received a call, that several people were "buried" after a stampede in the crowd near a popular nightclub district. Initially, the fire crew established that there was no gas leak nor fire, but shortly, reports emerged that the scene of chaos may have been caused due to rumours of a famous celebrity visiting the Halloween event.

Expressing shock at the incident, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, said that the US, whose forces had formerly established their bases in the very district before moving to the Capital, is ready to render support. “The reports out of Seoul are heartbreaking. We are thinking about all those who lost loved ones and hoping for a quick recovery for those injured. The United States stands ready to provide the Republic of Korea with any support it needs,” Sullivan wrote on Twitter. 

In a statement, Seoul Metropolitan Police said that it managed to identify nearly all the people killed in the stampede. The identity of 150 people killed has been confirmed, the police said. The officers also stated that there was no active search for those reported missing going on, all have been recovered. Tehran's semiofficial Iran Student News Agency (ISNA) said that among the dead are four Iranians, while the Australian Embassy in Seoul said there was also one Australian. “Consular officers from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) are providing consular assistance to the individual’s family in Australia,” DFAT said in a statement. Chinese state news agency Xinhua meanwhile confirmed that four Chinese nationals were also among the dead.