The incident happened as the result of a crush resulting from the size of the crowd, according to reports.
Around 120 people d!ed and 100 were !njured after a stampede on Itaewon’s streets where a massive crowd had gathered for Halloween festivities.
Earlier, officials had said that 50 people were in cardiac arrest and over 140 ambulances were dispatched to the scene to aid the victims.
The stampede happened near the Hamilton Hotel in the nightlife district of Itaewon, as a large number of people were believed to have entered a narrow alley near the hotel.
After taking stock of the situation, President Yoon Suk-yeol called an emergency meeting on the stampede, ordered officials to swiftly administer first aid and treat the injured.
The President also ordered officials to deploy emergency medical officials to Itaewon and secure emergency beds. In the meantime, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo instructed the officials to make utmost efforts to minimise damages.
On the other hand, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who is on a visit to Europe, decided to return home in the wake of the accident, city officials said. A total of 142 fire fighting vehicles were mobilised for the area.
As many as 120 people were ki!led and 100 more were injured after being crushed amidst a large crowd that was pushing forward on a narrow street during Halloween festivities in the capital Seoul.
According to Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul’s Yongsan fire department, said the death toll could rise and that an unspecified number among the injured were in critical conditions following the stampede in the leisure district of Itaewon Saturday night.
Video on social media showed first responders administering CPR on multiple people lying in the street. Police also confirmed that dozens of people were being given CPR on Itaewon streets while many others have been taken to nearby hospitals.
As per South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, emergency officials received at least 81 calls from people with breathing difficulty.
More than 800 emergency workers and police officers from around the nation, including all available personnel in Seoul, were deployed to the streets to treat the injured.
Choi also said that 74 of the d@ad have been sent to hospitals and the bodies of the remaining 46 who had been kept on the streets initially were being transported to a nearby gym so that workers could identify them.
