South Korean prime minister Han Duck-soo on Monday announced a thorough investigation into the Halloween crush over the weekend that killed more than 150 people in Seoul, in what has become the country’s worst disaster in years, Independent reports.
At least 132 others are believed to be injured, with 37 in serious condition. Officials fear the death toll could rise further.
Emergency workers and pedestrians desperately performed CPR on people lying on the streets overnight after the crush in the capital’s nightlife Itaewon district.
Those killed or hurt were mostly teenagers and people in their twenties, according to Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul‘s Yongsan fire department.
The dead included 26 foreign nationals from 15 different countries, South Korea’s foreign ministry has said.
South Korean president Yoon Suk-Yeol has declared a national mourning period today as reactions of shock and condolences pour in from the rest of the world.
An estimated 100,000 people had gathered in Itaewon for the country’s biggest Halloween festivities since the pandemic began and strict rules on gatherings were enforced.
