Terror in Seoul: More than 150 dead after Halloween stampede in the streets

More than 150 people were killed and more than 130 were injured in a stampede in a party area in central Seoul, South Korea. Nearly 300 disappearances are still being investigated, mostly of young people in their 20s.

Although they are still trying to determine the cause of the event, local authorities reported that they estimate that there were approximately 100,000 individuals gathered in the streets to celebrate Halloween. The people were gathered in an area known for its nightlife, when a stampede broke out due to an excessive accumulation of people in a narrow alley that connects a main avenue with a busy bar area. Hundreds of people were trapped there, many of whom died of asphyxiation.

Authorities deployed more than 900 emergency workers. Some videos posted on social media show the panic in the city as police and ambulances arrived to the area.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has declared national mourning following the tragedy.

Responsibility of the authorities

CNN disaster management expert Juliette Kayyem notes that crowds in Seoul are common. However, the authorities may have played a key role in the tragedy: "People in Seoul are used to being in crowded spaces, they may not have been completely alarmed by the crowded streets.... Panic is always a factor, and there is a danger of being too used to being in crowded spaces."

It is difficult to specify what could have triggered the agglomeration, but “there is a responsibility on the part of the authorities to be monitoring crowd volume in real time, so they can sense the need to get people out.”