<Anchor> The
Itaewon disaster left 154 people dead and 149 injured as of 6 o'clock today (31st).
The government declared Yongsan, Seoul a special disaster area, and decided to hold a national mourning period until the 5th of next month.
Correspondent Lee Seong-hoon.
<Reporter> The
Itaewon disaster killed a total of 303 people.
As of 6 a.m. today, 154 people have been killed and 149 people have been injured.
Of the 154 people who died, 11 were in their teens, 103 in their 20s, 30 in their 30s, 8 in their 40s, 1 in their 50s, and one person whose age is unknown.
Among the injured, 33 were seriously injured and 116 were lightly injured.
The number of seriously injured is small and the number of victims may rise further.
Of the deaths, 26 were foreigners.
Iranian nationals accounted for the most with five, followed by 26 people from 14 countries, including China, Russia, the United States, and France.
It was around 10:15 last night that the fire department first received a report that people could not breathe in Itaewon.
In the 3.2-meter-wide downhill alley right next to the Hamilton Hotel, people fell one after the other and were laid on top of each other.
Cardiac arrest patients came one after another, and firefighters arrived at the scene and started emergency rescue operations, but there were already many victims.
The government, which held a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters presided over by the Prime Minister at 9 am today, declared Yongsan-gu, Seoul as a special disaster area, and set the national mourning period until midnight on the 5th of the following month.