South Korea Halloween crush: Death toll rises to 151

A crush at a Halloween gathering in the South Korean capital Seoul left at least 149 people dead and over 150 injured, Associated Press reported. The crush occurred as a large crowd pushed into a narrow lane in course of Halloween festivities in Seoul, officials said. 

Seoul’s Yongsan fire department chief Choi Seong-beom said the death toll could grow as emergency workers move the injured to hospitals across the capital. Most of the dead have been shifted to hospitals while 46 are still on the streets. The crush is said to have happened in a narrow alley near Hamilton Hotel, a major party spot in the South Korean capital. 

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Social media messages from earlier in the day saw people complaining that the area was so crowded that it felt unsafe. Nearly 100,000 people had gathered in the first no-mask Halloween celebration in South Korea since the pandemic. 

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called an emergency meeting following the incident and ensured dispatch of emergency medical personnel. Personnel from all over the country are said to have been brought in. 

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Pictures and videos from the scene of the incident show a number of unconscious people lying on the streets. Medical personnel are moving people to nearby hospitals. 

A video from the scene showed emergency responders perform CPR on a number of people. Another video showed personnel pull out people from what appears to be a pile of bodies. 

Yonhap News Agency reported earlier that people suffered from ‘cardiac arrest’ citing fire authorities. The exact details behind the cause of the accident are yet to be revealed. No gas leak or fire has been reported at the site. 

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Police have closed off the area and a message has been sent to all phones in the zone urging citizens to go back on account of the accident. A total of 848 emergency response forces have been dispatched, including 364 firefighters and 400 police officials.