At least 151 people have died in a crush as huge Halloween crowds surged into a narrow street in South Korea’s capital, Seoul, the BBC reports.
At least another 82 were injured in the incident in the Itaewon nightlife area which was holding its first unmasked Halloween celebrations since Covid.
Reports describe a desperate scene of people caught up in the crush piling on top of each other.
Most of the dead were teenagers or in their 20s. Nineteen were foreigners.
The cause of the disaster is still being established.
After holding an emergency meeting, South Korea’s President, Yoon Suk-yeol, ordered a task force to be set up to help treat the injured. He also launched an investigation into the cause of the crush.
With the death toll as it stands, this is the deadliest disaster in South Korea since 2014, when the Sewol ferry sank killing more than 300 people.
