SEOUL – Many questions remained unanswered for 16 hours after a mob killed at least 151 people during Halloween celebrations in Itaewon, a popular nightlife district in central Seoul. Officials still don’t know what caused the disaster, but recollections from eyewitnesses and participants are helping to paint a fuller picture of the night of terror.
Janelle Story, 35 years old, an English teacher who hanging out with two friends in the neighborhood, said a caravan of people trampled quickly toward her around 10:30 p.m. near the corner from the alley where most of the victims were crushed. “I saw this sea of bodies rushing towards us very quickly, without any warning. It seemed to happen all of a sudden,” she said.
Ms Story said she was worried, but at first thought it was just a drunken crowd causing disorder. She left the area around 11pm and only learned the full extent of the tragedy after she took the subway back to her area.
In hindsight, she said the people flocking towards her were probably panicking in response to what was happening in the alley. “It didn’t even happen to me, they ran in fear,” she said.
Seon Yeo-jeong, a Korean Youtuber, recounted his experience on her Instagram page. She said she recalls hearing people shouting, “Hey, push! We’re stronger! I’m going to win!” And she described at one point “being swayed back and forth as if in a tug of war” before being squeezed from the front and back. “If my friend hadn’t hugged me and helped me,” she said, “I think I would have fainted and fallen to the ground.”
Kim Seo-jeong is excited to celebrate Halloween in the neighborhood. The 17-year-old girl wears a traditional Chinese dress known as a qipao, along with a friend dressed as a maid. Like so many others, they’ve missed out on previous holiday celebrations because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But Saturday night quickly turned deadly. Ms. Kim, a high school student, was among thousands of people crammed into a narrow, hilly alley. Kim said: “The people behind me fell like dominoes. “There are people below me and people falling on top of me. I have difficulty breathing. We screamed and cried for help, but the music was so loud in the alley, our screams were drowned out.”
Ms Kim and her friend managed to crawl to safety and were eventually pulled into a pub by onlookers. Then they left the alley by inching along the walls.
Ulas Cetinkaya, 36, a worker at a barbecue shop across from the alley where the crush took place, said: ‘I’ve never seen such a crowd in my life, except maybe at one political protests. He and his colleagues were expecting crowds at the store as it was the first Halloween since Covid regulations were lifted in South Korea. He said he was surprised at the minimal police presence.
