Itaewon crowd crush: 'I could not catch their pulse or breath'

Witnesses person described scenes of utter chaos erstwhile the constrictive streets of Seoul's fashionable Itaewon nightlife territory became choked with people, successful crowds which suffocated them.

Raphael Rashid, a freelance journalist, told the BBC determination were "tens of thousands of radical - the astir I've ever seen. So galore radical - to the constituent we were being crushed connected the pavement".

Thousands of teenagers and adults successful their 20s had descended connected Itaewon successful Halloween costumes, thrilled that they could yet enactment aft 2 years of Covid restrictions successful South Korea.

But video clips of the catastrophe showed real-life fearfulness unfolding, with 1 witnesser likening the catastrophe to a warfare movie. More than 150 died, much than 80 were injured.

The clips showed crowds jammed truthful choky that they could hardly move; a fewer managing to ascent retired to safety; hopeless bystanders helping paramedics to springiness CPR to victims; a agelong enactment of victims successful bodybags connected the pavement.

A steeply sloping alleyway became a decease trap - seemingly the assemblage surged guardant and radical astatine the beforehand fell implicit and were trampled by those behind.

Some video clips connected Twitter amusement rescuers desperately tugging astatine radical to extract them from a assemblage jammed tight.

"A abbreviated idiosyncratic similar maine could not adjacent breathe," said a pistillate eyewitness quoted by AFP quality agency. She said she had survived arsenic she was astatine the borderline of the alleyway, portion "people successful the mediate suffered the most".

Raphael Rashid said "no 1 truly understood what was going on" and immoderate constabulary were "standing connected apical of their constabulary cars desperately trying to archer radical to permission the country arsenic soon arsenic possible".

A medic astatine the scene, Dr Lee Beom-suk, told section broadcaster YTN helium had tried to revive a fewer victims with CPR, but "the fig exploded soon after, outnumbering archetypal responders astatine the scene". "Many bystanders came to assistance america with CPR."

He said "so galore victims' faces were pale". "I could not drawback their pulse oregon enactment and galore of them had a bloody nose."

Park Jung-hoon, 21, told Reuters the concern had been "completely retired of control".

And Moon Ju-young, besides 21, said "there were mode excessively galore radical and it was excessively crowded".

"I cognize the policemen and rescue workers are moving hard, but I would accidental determination was a deficiency of preparation."

An Itaewon resident, 53-year-old Lee Su-mi, told Reuters that "those young radical who were called 'Covid generation' could yet observe Halloween arsenic their archetypal festival.

"Then nary 1 was capable to foresee the festival turned into a disaster."