South Korea declares national mourning after Halloween crush kills 151

South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol declared a play of nationalist mourning connected Sunday aft a Halloween crush killed immoderate 151 radical successful a packed nightlife country successful Seoul.

Yoon expressed condolences to the victims, mostly teenagers and radical successful their 20s, and his wishes for a speedy betterment to the injured.

"This is genuinely tragic," helium said successful a statement. "A calamity and catastrophe that should not person happened took spot successful the bosom of Seoul past night."

A immense assemblage celebrating successful the fashionable Itaewon territory surged into an alley connected Saturday night, exigency officials said, adding the decease toll could rise.

Choi Sung-beom, caput of the Yongsan Fire Station, said 151 deaths had been confirmed, including 19 foreigners. He told a briefing astatine the country 82 radical were injured, 19 of them seriously.

It was the archetypal Halloween lawsuit successful Seoul successful 3 years aft the state lifted Covid-19 restrictions and societal distancing. Many of the partygoers were wearing masks and Halloween costumes.

Some witnesses described the assemblage becoming progressively unruly and agitated arsenic the evening deepened. The incidental took spot astatine astir 10:20 p.m. (1320 GMT).

"A fig of radical fell during a Halloween festival, and we person a ample fig of casualties," Choi said. Many of those killed were adjacent a nightclub.

Many of the victims were women successful their 20s, portion the foreigners killed included radical from China, Iran, Uzbekistan and Norway, Choi said.

Witnesses described chaos moments earlier the stampede, with the constabulary connected manus successful anticipation of the Halloween lawsuit astatine times having occupation maintaining power of the crowds.

Moon Ju-young, 21, said determination were wide signs of occupation successful the alleys earlier the incident. "It was astatine slightest much than 10 times crowded than usual," helium told Reuters.

Social media footage showed hundreds of radical packed successful the narrow, sloped alley crushed and immobile arsenic exigency officials and constabulary tried to propulsion them to free.

Choi, the Yongsan territory occurrence chief, said each the deaths were apt from the crush successful the azygous constrictive alley.

Fire officials and witnesses said radical continued to determination into the alley that was already packed wall-to-wall, erstwhile those astatine the apical of the sloped thoroughfare fell, sending radical beneath them toppling implicit others.

One pistillate said her daughter, pulled from the crush of people, survived aft being trapped for much than an hour.

A makeshift morgue was acceptable up successful a gathering adjacent to the scene. About 4 twelve bodies were wheeled retired connected wheeled stretchers and moved to a authorities installation to place the victims, according to a Reuters witness.

The Itaewon territory is fashionable with young South Koreans and expatriates alike, its dozens of bars and restaurants packed connected Saturday for Halloween aft businesses had suffered a crisp diminution implicit 3 years of the pandemic.

"You would spot large crowds astatine Christmas and fireworks ... but this was respective ten-folds bigger than immoderate of that," Park Jung-hoon, 21, told Reuters from the scene.

U.S. President Joe Biden and archetypal woman Jill Biden sent their condolences, writing: "We grieve with the radical of the Republic of Korea and nonstop our champion wishes for a speedy betterment to each those who were injured."

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted: "All our thoughts are with those presently responding and each South Koreans astatine this precise distressing time."

With the easing of the Covid pandemic, curfews connected bars and restaurants and a bounds of 10 radical for backstage gatherings were lifted successful April. An outdoor disguise mandate was dropped successful May.

President Yoon held an exigency gathering with elder aides and ordered a task unit beryllium acceptable up to unafraid resources to dainty the injured and motorboat a thorough probe into the origin of the disaster.

The catastrophe is among the country's deadliest since a 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 people, chiefly precocious schoolhouse students.

The sinking of the Sewol, and disapproval of the authoritative response, sent shockwaves crossed South Korea, prompting wide soul-searching implicit information measures successful the state that are apt to beryllium renewed successful the aftermath of Saturday's crush.