The Halloween Tragedy in Seoul’s Itaewon District

Holidays are always a cause for celebration and partying amongst young people, especially since the lightening of COVID-19 restrictions, and Halloween was no exception this year. In cities across the world, costumed teens and young adults gathered at clubs and bars to celebrate the holiday. In South Korea, where COVID restrictions had only recently been lifted, a record number of people traveled to Itaewon, a center for nightlife in Seoul, for the popular Halloween celebration. Unfortunately, with an unprecedented amount of party-goers in the narrow streets of Itaewon, the festivities quickly turned dangerous. During the Halloween weekend, on Saturday, October 29th, a crowd surge occurred amongst the swell of people in the South Korean district and tragically killed 154 people and injured hundreds more.

A crowd surge, or crowd crush, occurs when too many people are packed into a small area, and airflow and autonomous movement become limited. In Itaewon, the surge happened in an intersection of three streets where all three crowds surged towards the meeting point. This influx of people caused mass chaos and a loss of life for many caught in the middle. Authorities are unsure of the cause of the surge, but given the size of the crowds and the narrow, congested streets, any small disturbance could have caused the mass panic.

Authorities were called shortly after the panic started, but they could not reach the injured through the throng of people until the scene cleared. Over 4,000 missing persons reports were reported that night and the days following. Many of the reports since have been retracted or used to identify the dead. Of the dead, many were college students, with 26 international students, five high-school students, and one middle school student. One body has yet to be identified. Amongst the mourning family and friends, fans internationally mourn the death of singer and actor Lee Jihan, who also passed away in the crowd surge. This event is one of South Korea’s most devastating disasters, and the government declared a national mourning period through November 5th to honor the dead.

The local and national governments have responded by deploying large groups of emergency responders after the event to control protests, provide support for victims’ families, and investigate the causes to prevent similar tragedies in the future. In addition, the South Korean government will provide counseling and mental health support to grieving families and friends. A fund has also been set up to financially support the victims’ loved ones to aid with funeral costs and subsidize income loss.

In the past decade, crowd crushes in Mecca (2015, 2,300 dead), Indonesia (2022, 133 dead), Astroworld Festival (2021, 10 dead), and now most recently, Itaewon have prompted discussions on how to gather while still remaining safe. Many in South Korea have called out the local authorities for not providing enough crowd control when those in charge were aware of how many would be gathering. While we mourn those who were lost in Itaewon, we are reminded to always remain cautious while at large events in deep crowds and to prioritize our well-being, especially in situations that might become dangerous.