Crowd Crush in South Korea

On October 30, 2022, 154 people were killed and 149 were injured due to a crowd crush in Seoul, South Korea.

Many people were transferred to nearby hospitals in cardiac arrest after emergency CPR, according to ABC news. The incident was reported at around 10:20 pm that night. Because of the crowd, rescue crews took longer to respond to the situation.

Many people came together for a Halloween celebration in the Itaewon district in Seoul, which is known for its nightclubs. The area has bars in small alleyways away from the main road. This is where the tragedy took place.

Over 130,000 passengers used the Itaewon subway station on October 30th in Itaewon according to the New York Times. This exceeded the expected number by 30,000 people that night. There were 137 officers for over 100,000 people and most of them were told to look for crimes like theft and drug use. The gathering on October 30th was also “spontaneous” as no organized event took place in one or multiple of the bars that night that was required to share safety measures with police.

Mr. Kang, a science teacher at Central, had heard about the tragedy. “I was deeply saddened to hear about what happened,” Mr. Kang said. Many people had similar reactions to Mr. Kang across the world as the incident was very heartbreaking to almost everyone who heard about it. “I think it would have been prudent to have more officers there and to limit the number of people there, but I do not know what happened in terms of the social gathering,” Mr. Kang said.

Brody Stonecipher, a senior at Centennial High School, had seen the tragedy on the news. He said he was surprised that the city did not expect such a giant gathering in the area. Stonecipher believes there should be stricter conditions during holidays. “I think the bars and nightclubs in the area should have stricter conditions on holidays because a lot more people come to bars and clubs on holidays since everyone is home. So putting stricter conditions or rules would be a good solution.”

Tim Brown, director of performance at Development Capital Corporation Propane LLC (Limited Liability Company), had heard about the tragedy on the news as well. “I think the tragedy was preventable. Most tragedies are if the proper measures are taken and there are enough people to help assist with it.” Brown also believes there should be capacity limits put into place. “If you’re going to have events like this, you must have rules in place to prevent things like this from happening.”

Some people have said the government could be responsible for the outcome of the night and others think that the spontaneous crowding could not have been predicted. Brown said “It all comes back to planning and coordinating, and you have to plan for the worst-case scenario, but expect the best. It’s like after 9/11 security measures jumped, and the American government created policies and procedures that prevent another tragedy like 9/11 from happening. In this case, you put the people, policies, and procedures into place to keep those things from happening.”

What happened in Seoul on October 30th is nothing short of a tragedy. The government of the city is still investigating the causes as the country and the world continues to mourn the loss of many.