Sun | Sep 21, 2025

Update | Death toll from Seoul Halloween crush climbs to at least 149

Published:Saturday | October 29, 2022 | 7:09 PM
Injuried people are helped at the street near the scene in Seoul, South Korea, early Sunday, October 30, 2022. South Korean officials said around 50 people were in cardiac arrest and a number feared dead after being crushed by a large crowd pushing forward on a narrow street during Halloween festivities in the capital Seoul. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A mass of mostly young people celebrating Halloween festivities in Seoul became trapped and crushed as the crowd surged into a narrow alley, killing at least 149 people and injuring 150 others in South Korea's worst disaster in years.

Emergency workers and pedestrians desperately performed CPR on people lying in the streets after the crush in the capital's leisure district of Itaewon Saturday night.

Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul's Yongsan fire department, said the death toll could rise further and that an unspecified number among the injured were in critical condition.

An estimated 100,000 people had gathered in Itaewon for the country's biggest outdoor Halloween festivities since the pandemic began.

The South Korean government eased COVID-19 restrictions in recent months.

Itaewon, near where the former headquarters of US military forces in South Korea operated before moving out of the capital in 2018, is an expat-friendly district known for its trendy bars, clubs and restaurants.

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.