153 Dead After S. Korea Halloween Crowd Surge

October 30, 2022 8:06 am

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Concerned relatives raced to hospitals in search of their loved ones Sunday as South Korea grieved the deaths of at least 153 people, mostly in their 20s and 30s. They got trapped and crushed after a huge Halloween party crowd surged into a narrow alley in a nightlife district in Seoul. Tens of thousands of people were believed to have gathered Saturday night in Itaewon for festivities. Witnesses say the streets were so densely clogged with people and slow-moving vehicles that it was practically impossible for emergency workers and ambulances to reach the alley near Hamilton Hotel, as the situation quickly developed into one of the country’s worst disasters in years.