China News Service, October 30th. The screams and cries that broke out everywhere were intertwined with the honking of ambulances. In Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea, Halloween weekend night has become a nightmare for people.
On the evening of October 29, a large-scale stampede occurred in Itaewon, Yongsan District, Seoul, South Korea.
The latest news shows that as of 6 am local time on the 30th, 149 people have been killed and 76 injured.
On the evening of October 29, a crowd gathered near Itaewon.
Photo by Jiang Yizhi
"Falled down like dominoes"
According to reports, Itaewon was designated as Seoul's earliest special tourist zone in 1997.
It is adjacent to the Yongsan base of the U.S. military stationed in South Korea and has a large number of foreigners living there.
On the 1.4-kilometer-long street, there are shops selling clothing, backpacks and other department stores, as well as various hotels, restaurants, amusement places, etc. It is one of the main streets for night entertainment for young Koreans.
One such place, on October 29, allegedly gathered as many as 100,000 people.
This is South Korea's first Halloween event since the lifting of new crown epidemic restrictions and social distancing measures.
However, accident and tomorrow, you never know which will come first.
"People fell like dominoes in the steep alley," an eyewitness described after the stampede.
A relevant police source said: "It is presumed that the person above the slope said to go back and pushed the person behind, but the person below kept falling down, resulting in a stampede."
"I felt really crushed, crying while breathing," recalled one witness. "I thought I was going to die, so I whimpered and yelled 'help me,' and the person above took my hand. , pull me up."
According to Korean media reports, cordons were set up everywhere near the scene of the accident, and bags, shoes, coats, etc. were piled up inside the cordon.
Police speculate that the items belonging to the casualties will be quite large.
On the evening of October 29, a crowd gathered near Itaewon.
Photo by Jiang Yizhi
"The situation is so serious that it is impossible to accurately count the casualties"
According to the South Korean police and fire department, at about 22:15 local time on the 29th, the fire department first received an alarm saying that someone was trapped in an alley of Itaewon Station and needed rescue, and then a similar report was connected.
The Fire Department issued an order to respond to the first stage at 22:43, an order to respond to the second stage at 23:13, and an order to respond to the third stage at 23:50.
The third stage of the fire response is said to be the stage where orders are given to very large-scale disasters.
After firefighters arrived at the scene, CPR was performed on more than 50 people, and many of the injured were taken to nearby hospitals for medical treatment.
A relevant person from the Longshan Fire Department said, "The situation is so serious that it is impossible to accurately count the casualties. The Longshan Fire Department has dispatched all manpower to the scene for first aid."
The fire department and police are investigating the identity of the victims.
The fire department speculated that the most casualties were young people in their 20s.
Kim Geun-joon, head of the violent crime department at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said: "Mastering the identity is the top priority. Evidence is currently being collected at the scene and the cause of the accident is being investigated."
On the evening of October 29, a crowd gathered near Itaewon.
Photo by Shu Si
"All departments should do their best to give emergency treatment"
South Korean President Yoon Seok-hye held an emergency inspection meeting at the Yongsan Presidential Palace in the early morning of the 30th local time after making two emergency instructions on the accident.
Yin Xiyue instructed that with the Ministry of Administration and Security as the center, all relevant departments should do their best to provide rapid first aid and treatment to the injured.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who was visiting Europe, also rushed back to his home country after hearing reports of the accident.
He will immediately handle the accident and conduct on-site command after he returns to China.
The Investigation Headquarters established after the accident will investigate the exact circumstances of the accident, and will also investigate whether the business premises in the Itaewon area have fulfilled their duty of safety measures.
In May 2020, the nightclub-related cluster infection of the new crown virus led to hundreds of people being diagnosed, making Itaewon a "terrifying zone".
Today, this is called the largest single accident after the "Shiyue Massacre" in 2014 by Korean media, which will add another layer of shadow to Itaewon.