At least 120 people were killed and 100 injured Saturday in an apparent stampede of thousands of people gathered in the narrow streets of a neighborhood in Seoul, South Korea’s capital, to celebrate Halloween, officials said.
“As of 2:30 a.m., 120 were killed and 100 injured,” a fire department official, Choi Sung-bum, told reporters at the scene.
Shortly before, the authorities had offered a first balance of 59 dead and 150 injured.
The incident occurred in the popular neighborhood of Itaewon, where thousands of people crowded its narrow streets to celebrate Halloween, officials said.
A spokesman told AFP that more than 140 ambulances had been dispatched to the scene.
The incident, which according to firefighters occurred at 22H22 local (13H22 GMT), seems to be the result of a stampede in the streets of the area.
“The high death toll was due to many being trampled on during the Halloween event,” Choi said, adding that the death toll could rise.
Firefighters initially told Yonhap news agency that about 50 people were being treated after suffering cardiac arrest.
In South Korea, rescue services refer to cardiac arrests until a doctor officially declares a person’s death.
Area cordoned off by stampede
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered first aid teams to be sent to the site and asked hospitals to prepare to receive the wounded.
Photographs published by Yonhap showed more than a dozen people lying on a street and first responders giving heart massages to some of them.
Police in yellow vests cordoned off the area and rescuers loaded some victims onto stretchers toward ambulances.
In other videotaped footage, about 20 bodies can be seen covered with blankets.
It is the first time Halloween has been celebrated in the Asian country since the start of the covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
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