SouthKoreavows investigation into deadly Halloween crowd surge

SouthKorean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Monday promised a thorough investigation into the Halloween crush over the weekend that killed more than 150people in the capital and plunged the country into aweek ofmourning.

Officials said the death toll had risen overnight to 154, with 149 injured, 33 of them in serious condition.Citizens from at least two-dozen countries were among the dead.Global Affairs Canada said Sunday that it is "aware that a Canadian was injured in the mass casualty incident."

Tens of thousands of partygoers had crowded into narrow streets and alleyways of Seoul's popular Itaewon on Saturday for the first virtually unrestricted Halloween festivities in three years. Many of the revellers were in their teensor twentiesand dressed in costume.

But chaos eruptedwhen people poured into one particularly narrow and sloping alley, even after it was already packed, witnesses said.

More than 80 per cent of the dead were in their 20s or 30s and 11 were teenagers, the Interior Ministry said.

Among the deceased from outside the country, five were from Iran, four from China, four from Russia, two from the United States, two from Japan, and one each from Australia, Norway, France, Austria, Vietnam, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka, according to the ministry.

The office of Brad Wenstrup, Republican congressman from Ohio, said one of the American victims was his niece, Anne Marie Gieske.

"She was a gift from God to our family. We loved her so much," Wenstrup said in a statement released by his office.

On Monday morning, people laid white chrysanthemums, drinks and candles at a small makeshift altar off an exit of the Itaewon subway station, a few steps away from the site of the crush.

"It doesn't matter how they died, or why they died. Those poor people, all at similar ages to my grandchildren, they died anyway," said Jung Si-hoon, a retiree and a church elder, who placed an old wooden cross at the altar. "What more should we say? We should pray for them and wish they rest in peace."

Shops and cafes nearby were closed and police cordoned off the site of the incident, which was strewn with trash.

WATCH | People fell on each other like dominoes, witnessess say:

South Korea crowd surge leaves more than 150 dead

2 years ago

Duration 2:35

Joy turned to horror in South Korea this weekend when a massive crowd of mostly young people surged out of a Halloween party into a narrow alley, resulting in the deaths of more than 150 people who were trampled on in the chaos.

"The government will undertake a thorough investigation into what caused this accident and do its best to make necessary institutional changes so that such an accident is not repeated," Han said as government officials metto discuss thedisaster.

"Identification has been completed for all of the 154 deceased except one, and I believe it is time for follow-up measures such as funeral procedures to be carried out in earnest," Han went on. "We will do our best to provide necessary support by reflecting the opinions of the bereaved families as much as possible."

President declares national mourning period

Han said there were incidents of people propagating hate speech by blaming victims, as well as spreading false information and posting disturbing scenes of the incident online. A National Police Agency official said they were investigating six related cases.

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who has declared a period of national mourning until Nov. 5, visited a memorial altar near the Seoul city hall and paid his respects to victims on Monday.

The crush came as Itaewon, a symbol of freewheeling nightlife in the SouthKorean capital for decades, was starting to thrive after more than two years of COVID-19 restrictions, with trendy restaurants and shops replacing seedy establishments.

Schools, kindergartens and companies around the country scrapped planned Halloween events. K-pop concerts and government briefings were also cancelled.

The disaster is the country's deadliest since a 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 people, mainly high school students.

The sinking of the Sewol, and criticism of the official response, sent shockwaves across SouthKorea, prompting widespread soul-searching over safety measures in the country that are likely to be renewed in the wake of Saturday's crush.