A minimum of 120 folks have been killed and 100 extra have been injured as they have been crushed by a big crowd pushing ahead on a slim road throughout Halloween festivities within the capital of Seoul, South Korean officers stated.
Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul’s Yongsan hearth division, stated the dying toll may rise and that an unspecified quantity among the many injured have been in vital situations.
He stated 74 of the lifeless have been despatched to hospitals whereas the our bodies of the remaining 46 who had been saved on the streets have been being transported to a close-by fitness center in order that employees may establish them.
Officers say it was believed that folks have been crushed to dying after a big crowd started pushing ahead in a slim alley close to Hamilton Lodge, a serious get together spot in Seoul.
Greater than 800 emergency employees and law enforcement officials from across the nation, together with all obtainable personnel in Seoul, have been deployed to the streets to deal with the injured.
The Nationwide Fireplace Company individually stated in a press release that officers have been nonetheless attempting to find out the precise variety of emergency sufferers.
TV footage and photographs confirmed ambulance automobiles lined up in streets amid a heavy police presence and emergency employees shifting the injured in stretchers. Emergency employees and pedestrians have been additionally seen performing CPR on folks mendacity within the streets.
In a single part, paramedics have been seen checking the standing of a dozen or extra individuals who lied immobile beneath blue blankets.
Police, which have been proscribing visitors in close by areas to hurry up the transportation of the injured to hospitals throughout town, additionally confirmed that dozens of individuals have been being given CPR on Itaewon streets. The Seoul Metropolitan Authorities issued emergency textual content messages urging folks within the space to swiftly return dwelling.
Some native media reviews earlier stated the crush occurred after numerous folks rushed to an Itaewon bar after listening to an unidentified movie star visited there.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a press release calling for officers to make sure swift therapy for these injured and evaluate the security of the festivity websites. He additionally instructed the Well being Ministry to swiftly deploy catastrophe medical help groups and safe beds in close by hospital to deal with the injured.
Native media stated round 100,000 folks flocked to Itaewon streets for the Halloween festivities, which have been the most important for the reason that begin of the pandemic following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in current months