This is absolutely horrible what happened last night in the Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul:
At least 146 people died and more than 150 were injured in a crowd crush in Itaewon, Yongsan-gu, central Seoul, according to fire authorities at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday. The fire department began to receive reports of patients having difficulty breathing at 10:22 p.m. on Saturday.
Of the 146 people who died, 101 were transferred to the hospital. The remaining 45 bodies were kept on site and later moved to a nearby multi-purpose indoor gymnasium. Identifying the deceased is expected to take some time, according to fire officials. Most of the dead were in their 20s. Officials expect that the number of casualties will continue to rise throughout the day.
Choi Eul-cheon, head of the Yongsan Police’s criminal division, said, “No drug-related reports have been confirmed” in response to a question about whether drugs were involved in the incident.
You can read more at the link, but rumors being spread was that it was caused by reports that candy filled with drugs was being handed out to people and that a celebrity was at a bar that caused a large amount of people to surge into the alley next to the Hamilton Hotel. There was obviously something going on in that alley to cause so many people to surge into that direction at once. I am sure in the coming days we will find out what happened. Odds are there was plenty of USFK servicemembers at Itaewon last night. No word yet of any of the casualties were US military personnel.
On Twitter there is a lot of videos showing what happened during the stampede and the aftermath. Looking at the videos it appears that most of the victims are young women, which would make sense that they would be crushed in a crowd more easily than larger males. Warning the videos below the fold are graphic.
It will be interesting to see how effective these COVID patrols are going to be over the weekend:
South Korean police will be cracking down on COVID-19 violations over Halloween weekend, particularly in metropolitan areas frequented by foreigners and young adults. (Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency)
South Korean police in metropolitan districts will be cracking down on COVID-19 violations over Halloween weekend, particularly in areas frequented by foreigners and young adults.
Roughly 200 additional police officers and city workers from Yongsan, Hongdae, Itaewon and other popular districts in Seoul will conduct joint patrols between Thursday and Sunday, a senior law enforcement official told Stars and Stripes on the customary condition of anonymity.
“Patrollers, including city council officers and cops, will check whether folks are keeping a safe distance from others, wearing masks and avoiding large gatherings,” the senior law enforcement official said Wednesday. “We’ll visit businesses and guide folks to follow disinfection guidance as well.”
Although Halloween is not officially observed in the country, the holiday prompts parties and other events catered toward younger crowds and foreigners. Districts like Itaewon and Hongdae in Seoul are known for their foreigner-friendly businesses and are home to numerous bars and nightclubs.
The authorities in Seoul seem to be showing more concern about Halloween parties spreading COVID than the 25,000 KCTU protesters that showed up in the middle of Seoul:
A shopping mall in Seoul is crowded with people, Sunday. Yonhap
The health authorities are on high alert over Halloween, as the upcoming celebration, during which time popular areas such as Itaewon and Gangnam are expected to be crowded with partygoers, could serve as catalyst for massive COVID-19 infections ahead of the government’s planned shift to its “Living with COVID-19” plan.
They are also redoubling their efforts to boost the vaccination rate among foreign residents amid growing concerns that their lower participation in the inoculation program could pose a major setback to the policy shift.
The Little Britain star posted a photo of himself on Twitter dressed in a black suit, wig and apparent prosthesis – which appeared to have altered his eyelids as well as his hairline – and sparked an immediate backlash.
Many people branded the costume “racist” and accusing him of “yellow-face”. [The Independent]
