Photos and witness accounts detail the crowd surge that killed at least 151 people during Halloween festivities in South Korea: 'It was completely out of control'

A woman is attended to as dozens of people suffered cardiac arrest in the popular nightlife district of Itaewon in Seoul on October 30, 2022.

Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images

• At least 151 people died after a crowd surge in South Korea on Saturday, as per the BBC.
• The incident happened during Halloween festivities in Seoul in a popular nightlife district.
• Photos showed a chaotic scene as emergency responders tried to attend to the crowd.

In the wake of a deadly crowd surge at a Halloween festival in Seoul, South Korea, photos and witness accounts provided devastating details about how the chaos unfolded.

At least 151 people died and 82 more were injured, according to the BBC. Officials told the news outlet that the death toll included 19 foreigners and that the incident occurred after a large crowd celebrating Halloween surged into a narrow alley in the Itaewon nightlife area.

Photos from the tragedy showed a chaotic scene of remnants of victims' costumes and emergency responders trying to attend to the crowd, while witnesses described mayhem.

Bloodied and broken costumes 

The belongings of victims are seen at the scene of a deadly stampede during a Halloween festival on October 30, 2022 in Seoul, South Korea.

Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

Approximately 100,000 people were in the area, marking the first large gathering with no masks since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the BBC.

Officials told the news outlet that most of the victims were teenagers and adults in their 20s. 

High school student narrowly escapes

At least 149 people were killed and scores more were injured in a stampede at a packed Halloween event in central Seoul late on October 29, officials said, in one of South Korea's worst peacetime accidents.

Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images

A high school student who became stuck in the crowd with her friend told The New York Times how she narrowly escaped after falling.

"There were people beneath me and people falling on top of me. I could hardly breathe. We shouted and screamed for help, but the music was so loud in the alley our shouts were drowned," Kim Seo-jeong said.  

Kim and her friend were eventually able to crawl away from the mass of people and adults pulled them into a tavern.

'It was completely out of control'

Policemen at the scene of a deadly stampede during a Halloween festival on October 30, 2022 in Seoul, South Korea.

Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

Two witnesses told the BBC that what happened in the alley looked like it was a scene out of a movie as first responders attempted to treat people.

"It was completely out of control," one of the witnesses said. 

"There were way too many people and it was too crowded," said the other witness. 

Rescue officials and police gather in the district of Itaewon in Seoul on October 30, 2022, after a Halloween crush which left at least 120 people dead.

Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images

South Korea's president Yoon Suk-yeol declared a period of national mourning that will last until the disaster has been brought under control, according to the BBC. 

"My heart is heavy and I struggle to cope with my grief," he said. The President added that he felt "responsible for people's lives and safety".

Following the incident, officials have been advised to conduct an emergency review of all Halloween celebrations and other festivities, per the BBC. 

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