The death toll has reached at least 149 from the apparent crowd surge during Halloween gatherings in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood Saturday night, according to a local fire official.
At least 150 were also injured in an apparent crowd surge during packed Halloween festivities in Seoul according to the Yongsan Fire Department chief.
A witness said people were jammed on a narrow street and could not breathe. “I saw the people going to the left side and I saw the person getting to the opposite side,” Sung Sehyun said. “The person in the middle got jammed, so they had no way to communicate. They could not breathe.”
The cause of injuries and deaths in the incident has not been officially confirmed, added Choi Jae-won, the head of Yongsan Health Center.
A local health official had earlier warned that with dozens of people hospitalized, the death toll was likely to rise.