Survivors of Halloween tragedy recount chaotic night

Flowers and a letter of condolences are taped to a wall next to the site of the stampede behind a police line in central Seoul's Itaewon, Sunday. Yonhap

At least 26 foreign nationals killed

By Lee Hae-rin

As a huge fan of the Korean drama "Itaewon Class," Beta Bayusantika, 27, an Indonesian national pursuing a master's degree at Hanyang University, had crossed his fingers for the coronavirus pandemic to wane so he could visit the shopping and entertainment district where the global hit series was filmed. He was eager to experience the multicultural neighborhood in central Seoul, well-known for the annual Halloween celebration. He went there on Saturday to enjoy his first Halloween in Itaewon.

"I was there maybe 9 to 10 p.m. at Itaewon Station. It was extremely crowded. From the corner of the alley, we saw that many people were trying to get out of there. It was so heartbreaking," he said during a phone interview with The Korea Times, Sunday, referring to the accident site next to Hamilton Hotel. "I heard people saying 'Help! Help! Help!' in Korean," he said.

"Fire officials and police officials were there, trying to evacuate many people from the crowd. Many people were doing CPR."

On Sunday, the day after the tragedy, the area was crowded with some residents, passersby and survivors still there since the night before. The dismayed people gathered behind the police line across the street, waiting for the latest updates.

According to police, as of Sunday 10 p.m., at least 154 people were dead, including 26 foreign nationals from 14 countries including Iran, China, Uzbekistan, Russia, the United States, France, Vietnam, Norway, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Austria. Of the 133 people injured, 15 were foreign nationals.

Some foreign nationals who witnessed and survived the incident shared what they saw and experienced during their interviews with The Korea Times.

Jaecheon-based Libyan national Abdo Al-Kader, 31, who works at a farm, has visited the entertainment district to celebrate previous Halloweens. But he said the incident he witnessed last night was more than unusual.

"Last night, there were a lot of people here. People didn't know what to do. Police came, they took people down and many people were doing resuscitation on those on the ground. Everything happened in a moment," he said.

The narrow, sloped alley next to Hamilton Hotel in central Seoul's Itaewon is crowded with people who went to the area to celebrate Halloween, Saturday, prior to the tragedy that occurred here. Yonhap

Osman Karakan, 26, a Turkish national who has worked in Korea as a painter since 2020, said he gave a helping hand to move unconscious people on the street after himself surviving the incident.

"I was here with my friends from around 9 p.m. The alley was so crowded that we thought it could be dangerous, so we took shelter at a club nearby. When we got out of there around 10:30 p.m., dead people were lying in the street and many people were doing CPR on them," Karakan said on Sunday while across the street from the site of the accident.

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The club owner asked for their assistance moving bodies in the street and they gave a helping hand, he said. The situation was very different from his previous Halloweens in Itaewon, as the area was more crowded and the situation seemed especially chaotic, he said, describing the atmosphere by spinning his finger around his head.

He lost his bag with his passport in it in the chaos and came back for it, he said. However, the alley was closed off to the public and belongings left by the victims had been collected by investigators.

Sonali Madane, a 29-year-old student from India pursuing a master's degree at Ewha Womans University, also recounted a chaotic night.

"My friends and I went there at 9:45 p.m. Within half an hour, this incident happened. We were in the Runway Club and when we came out of there … we got to know that the chaos is happening. People were spreading rumors, 'Is there an explosion? Is it a bomb?' Because of that, everybody was freaking out. … Others were saying there is some celebrity coming (which caused a stampede)," Madane told The Korea Times in a phone interview, Sunday.

"Within five minutes, the police came and they handled the situation. They gave us directions and we escaped the site of the accident. We saw people lying on the street, firemen giving CPR to them at 11:30 p.m.," she said.

She and her friends had to take shelter in a restaurant for a while because the subway had been stopped due to the emergency situation.

Personal belongings of the victims of a deadly crowd accident in Seoul's Itaewon area line the alleyway, early Sunday. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

"One ajumma (middle-aged woman) of this restaurant there told us to come and sit for a while. So we ordered a kimchi pancake and … that's how we spent the whole night. We also went to a noraebang (karaoke in Korean) near where all the ambulances were. It was full but no one was singing. Just sitting there, no one was enjoying noraebang. The owner said the place is full so we had to leave. Then we went back to the ajumma's restaurant," she said.

She returned home at 7 a.m., Sunday.

The foreign nationals who witnessed the tragedy pointed out that having security measures in place could have prevented the disaster.

"Yesterday, there weren't a lot of traffic police compared to how many people gathered there. … Not enough people were there to control the crowd. If there were enough police officers telling people to go here and there, that could have prevented something like this," Karakan said.

Al-Kader agreed. He said when he visited Itaewon the week before to attend an international food and culture festival, the neighborhood was also crowded with visitors, but the situation was under control with a sufficient police presence.

"Last week, this street was closed, no cars here. It was a good place, people moving freely without any problem. But last night was very different. You could not take care of yourself because there were a lot of people. I think if the Korean government wants to think of a solution, if they know in Halloween or in Christmas when a lot of people are coming, they can close this way and control the area, and avoid something like this happening," he said.

All foreign survivors expressed their condolences for the victims of the tragic incident.

"I just want to offer my condolences for all the family and people who were hurt and lost their lives here. I feel very sad about this and hope something like this will not happen again," Bayusantika said.