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Photos: Halloween crowd chaos kills more than 150 in South Korea

Thousands of people were caught in the crush when they entered a narrow alley in the bar and restaurant district of Itaewon in central Seoul on Saturday night.

South Korea stampede
The body of a victim is transported out of the district of Itaewon in the capital, Seoul. [Anthony Wallace/AFP]
Published On 29 Oct 2022

A crowd crush occurred in a crowded entertainment district in South Korea’s capital as a huge number of Halloween revellers descended on the area and became trapped in narrow streets.

Thousands of people were caught in the crush when they entered a narrow alley in Itaewon, a bar and restaurant district in central Seoul, on Saturday night.

“People were layered on top of others like a tomb. Some were gradually losing their consciousness while some looked dead by that point,” one witness was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.

At least 146 people were killed and 150 injured in the crowd crush, said fire department official Choi Seong-beom, who added that the death toll could rise.

Authorities said they were investigating the exact cause of the incident.

The bodies of victims of the crowd crush are lined up and covered in plastic in the popular nightlife district of Itaewon on Saturday
The bodies of victims of the crowd crush are lined up and covered in plastic in the popular nightlife district of Itaewon on Saturday. [Jung Yeon-je/AFP]
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A woman is assisted after thousands of people crowded into narrow streets in the city's Itaewon neighbourhood to celebrate Halloween. [Anthony Wallace/AFP]
epa10273601 Injured people are being attended to on a street in Seoul's Itaewon district, after about 50 people fell into cardiac arrest from a stampede during Halloween celebrations in Seoul, South Korea, 29 October 2022. EPA-EFE/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT
Injured people are attended to after the deadly crowd crush during Halloween celebrations in Seoul. [Yonhap via EPA-EFE]
Women walk by ambulances at the scene of Saturday's deadly crowd crush. [Kim Hong-ji/Reuters]
Bodies of victims, believed to have suffered cardiac arrest, are covered with blankets in the popular nightlife district of Itaewon in Seoul on October 30, 2022.
Bodies are covered with blankets in the popular nightlife district of Itaewon on Saturday night. [Yelim Lee/AFP]
Many of the party-goers were wearing masks and Halloween costumes when the incident occurred. [Jung Yeon-je/AFP]
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A man covers the dead in Seoul's Itaewon entertainment district after a stampede during Halloween festivities on Saturday.
A man covers the dead after the chaotic crowd crush during Halloween celebrations in South Korea's capital. [Jeon Heon-kyun/EPA-EFE]
A man receives medical help at the scene on Saturday [Kim Hong-ji/Reuters]
EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Bodies of victims, believed to have suffered cardiac arrest, are covered in the popular nightlife district of Itaewon in Seoul on October 30, 2022. - Dozens of people suffered from cardiac arrest in the South Korean capital Seoul, after thousands of people crowded into narrow streets in the city's Itaewon neighbourhood to celebrate Halloween, local officials said. (Photo by Yelim LEE / AFP)
Thousands of people crowded into narrow streets in the city's Itaewon neighbourhood to celebrate Halloween. [Yelim Lee/AFP]
Rescue teams work at the scene where dozens of people were killed and injured in the crowd crush. [Kim Hong-ji/Reuters]