Deadly Halloween Chaos in Seoul’s Itaewon: A Sudden, Unplanned Crowd Tragedy
On October 29th, what should have been a carefree night for teens and young adults in Seoul’s iconic Itaewon turned into a catastrophic crush that claimed at least 153 lives, including 22 foreigners.
From Party Vibes to Panic
- Young revelers—many in eye‑catching costumes—lined up to hit bars, clubs, and restaurants that are famous for overflowing into narrow, steep side streets.
- Even a day before, crowds at a Halloween street fair in Itaewon were packed head‑to‑toe. Photos of festive booths for face‑painting and candy were circulating on social media.
- No single organized event drew everyone; instead, clubs buzzed with Halloween promotions on the hottest spots, pumping more people into the cramped alleys.
What Went Wrong?
The stormy night began around 10 pm (1310 GMT). Police attempted to maintain order, but the surge was relentless.
- People surged into an especially narrow, sloping alley, even when it was already jam-packed.
- Many tried to climb building walls for a better angle in the emerging pressure.
- When people near the top started tumbling, the domino effect sent those below one after another.
Witness Accounts
Moon Ju‑young, 21, recalls arriving to see folks collapsing on the street: “Some were bleeding, others were screaming in pain.”
A French student, protecting his privacy out of trauma, felt trapped for an hour and a half: “I wanted to find a safe place, but everyone was pushing. I couldn’t move.” He later returned with chest pain and a hurt ankle, yet remained empathetic toward the victims and first responders.
A 30‑year‑old graduate student described the wreckage: “I was shoved, then people still kept pushing—more fell, and we piled on each other.” He shouted: “Don’t push! People fell!”
One woman’s daughter survived after being trapped for over an hour.
Trying to Keep the Calm
Some onlookers, eager to help friends, attempted to bypass police lines. Moon noted: “They were dragged out by the authorities.”
The Response
Rescue teams are still probing the causes—whether there was an invisible trigger or simply an excess of crowding—while dealing with a scene where bodies are wedged between buildings and emergency workers struggle to free anyone from the crush.
What Comes Next?
The Seoul authorities face tough questions on crowd management, safety protocols for themed events, and how to prevent a handful of celebrants from turning deadly.
As the city honors the memory of those lost, a critical lesson emerges: when festive joy turns too close to the edge, the cost can be tragically high.
Crowd control
The Halloween Havoc in Seoul
In what turned out to be a massive, ghost‑free gathering, city officials had tipped the ballpark at roughly 100,000 revelers who turned up to celebrate without the heavy Covid‑19 rules that had gripped Korea since 2020.
No Extra Police Pile‑On
Despite the sheer numbers, the police command decided that the usual Halloween night force was enough. “We didn’t feel the need for a riot squad or a human‑treadmill of officers,” the department said. That left many people to swear they could’t spot a police marker in the throng.
A Local’s Perspective
- “Halloween always crowds the streets, but last night was a whole new level,” a woman in her 20s told Reuters. She could not tell which were cops and which were costume‑clad civilians.
- She lives right in the heart of the chaos but chose to stay under the radar.
Heart‑Rending Aftermath
A grieving father of a young woman, who tragically perished in the crush, took to a Seoul funeral home to pick up his daughter’s body. “We expected a crowd of 100,000 or more in Itaewon,” he protested. “The city’s prep was a joke, and that led straight to the disaster.”
Chaos on the Net
Social media screenshots flipped a grim scene: personal items, a pile of debris, and rescuers huddled in the middle of the street. Firefighters were seen rushing to lay down CPR on the stunned dead, while officers struggled to keep people at bay.
The Escaped Survivor
- The graduate student who managed to escape said the difference was less than a few minutes. “Had I stayed a bit longer, I would have gone in there and died,” she said.
So while the night was supposed to be a clean, costumed celebration, it turned into a stark reminder of how quickly a festival can become a tragedy if no one is on the lookout. And no amount of fireworks can smooth out a human crush.
