Seoul Stampede Witness Says 'Accident Was Bound to Happen'

A witness to the tragedy at South Korea's first large Halloween celebration in the Itaewon district since the end of pandemic restrictions that killed at least 159 felt an accident was going to happen as people crowded the narrow streets and made it difficult to move.

Jeon Ga-Eul, 30, told the AFP news agency that he felt an "accident was bound to happen" as he recalled how people were "pushed around" and how he "got caught in the crowd and couldn't get out."

Another witness told Yonhap News Agency that people were laid on top of others "like a tomb" as some gradually lost consciousness and others "looked dead by that point."

A survivor surnamed Kim was quoted by Al Jazeera saying that people were shouting "Help me!" while others were short of breath.

The Al Jazeera report, which also cited Seoul-based newspaper Hankyoreh, said the survivor described being trampled by other people for around one and a half hours before being rescued.

The survivor added that people fell and collapsed on one another "like dominos" after being pushed by other individuals at a narrow downhill alley near Itaewon's Hamilton Hotel.

The jam-packed Halloween event in central Seoul's Itaewon district turned out to be a nightmare as at least 149 people, including two foreigners, were killed and another 150 were injured in a stampede, according to AFP.

Fire department officials said around 100,000 people went to Itaewon to celebrate Halloween, which clogged the area's narrow alleyways and winding streets.

Yahoo! News reported that the incident happened around 10:20 PM, and the victims were mostly women in their twenties.

"The high number of casualties was the result of many being trampled during the Halloween event," fire official Choi Seong-Beom said, as quoted by AFP, adding that the death toll could climb.