At least two dead and more than 100 injured in a human stampede at a Halloween party in Seoul

29 (EUROPE PRESS)

At least two people have died and more than a hundred people have been injured in a serious and massive human stampede that occurred during a Halloween party in the Itaewon neighborhood, in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, according to the preliminary balance. At least 50 people are receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers, authorities have reported.

“At 10:46 p.m. on October 29, there was a crowding accident near the Hamilton Hotel. The number of victims is estimated at more than a hundred,” the South Korean Interior Ministry’s Central Office for Disasters and Security reported, quoted by the South Korean press.

The emergency services have received at least 81 warning calls from the Hamilton Hotel area for breathing difficulties since 11:30 p.m., according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

The newspaper ‘Hangyore Sinmun’ has reported that police and fire personnel have been seen moving “dozens” of bodies that could be deceased. Officially, the Fire Department has confirmed the transfer of “24 people to hospitals with heart accidents”, so the final number of deaths could be much higher than that confirmed so far.

The Firefighters have activated a Level Three response at 11:50 p.m. and have sent personnel to the area, where a field hospital has already been installed with the support of the Seoul National University Hospital, the Kyunghee University Hospital and the Seoul University Hospital. Hanyang. At least 142 emergency vehicles including ambulances and fire trucks have been sent to the scene.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has called an emergency meeting of the Presidential Crisis Management Center in Yongsan, Seoul. The mayor of Seoul, Oh Se Hoon, has also been informed and is returning from Europe after suspending a trip in which he was scheduled to visit four countries.

The Police had previously reported that they expected a large concentration of some 100,000 people at the Halloween party where the tragedy occurred.

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