150 young souls were killed in a tragic accident in Itaewon this Halloween.
After 3 years into the COVID-19 pandemic, this year was the first “no-mask” Halloween festival in a long time. The crowd funneled into a narrow alley next to the Hamilton Hotel, located just near the Line 6 Subway station. As the crowd surged like a wave, a number of people at the front of the slope tripped and fell, causing a domino effect where people toppled on top of each other. Media claims that the small incline of the hill where the alley was located could have increased the pressure of the stampede to around 16T at the bottommost part of the crowd.
That night, ambulances and police cars lined the streets of Itaewon. All emergency medical workers and even passersby in costumes who work in the medical field took turns performing CPR on the patients who went through cardiac arrest. People were carrying out patients into the streets as the crowd still failed to disperse due to the high density of people that had accumulated in the narrow area. The festive atmosphere of Halloween suddenly turned grim as the death count kept rising until noon of the following day.
All weekend, TV channels were giving live broadcasts on the situation that took place on Saturday. Most of the deaths in this incident were people in their teens or 20s. Many families are shocked at the unexpected deaths of their young sons and daughters. The whole country is in a period of mourning. I cannot imagine the pain and suffering the families of these people are going through. The whole country is at a loss for words after this unimaginable tragedy. Please pray for Itaewon.
Originally posted on Medium, Ridia Chang
I feel terrible. I was at my parent’s house when I heard about this incident.
My boyfriend’s parents called us at 12:00 AM that night, telling us that 40 people had gone into cardiac arrest. They had seen pictures of young bodies covered in sky blue body bags, with their bare legs sticking out of the tarps onto the bare pavement. They were worried that we were there at the scene, and when we picked up, his parents were almost in tears.
My boyfriend and I were there the night before the incident. We partied for about 3 hours and left before 11:00. Coming home, we talked about how close our encounter with death was, and how futile life was. No one was safe from that accident. All those people there were just there to have a good time. People who were pushing the crowd down probably didn’t have a clue that those bodies on the street were actually dead. Policemen and Firefighters, Medical Workers in the area were probably mistaken for disguised partiers.
The irony of this incident still gives me the chills. The proximity of death, the tragedy veiled in festivity, the franticness of all those professionals deemed as Halloween costumes, the loss of so many young souls. It spooks me how such a familiar place was the scene of death for 154 deaths just 2 days ago. I think I won’t be able to go back for a while. And at the same time, I feel terrible for this feeling of gratitude. I hope all those young men and women find peace and I pray for their families who will most likely be suffering from excruciating pain.
Ridia's Green Barley 