One hundred and fifty-four deaths were declared this Monday following a tragedy during the "Halloween" celebrations on Saturday (29) in the South Korean city of Itaewon.
The international press reports that 154 people, including 22 foreigners, were crushed, suffocated and trampled to death, and more than 149 were injured, 33 of them seriously. Local authorities report that at least 141 of the 154 people killed have been identified.
The victims are mostly teenagers and young adults, mostly women (more than 90). According to The New York Times, quoted by Público, the Seoul government says it has a record of more than 4,000 people missing.
The South Korean President promised a "thorough investigation" to ascertain the causes of the tragedy and announced national mourning.
On Friday night, the narrow, sloping streets of Itaewon - an area known for its moved nightlife, with several restaurants, bars and nightclubs - began to fill with a crowd of masked youths. The scene of crowded streets was repeated and worsened on Saturday night. There was no specific event drawing crowds, according to South Korean authorities, but on social media, announcements for events at bars and nightclubs multiplied.
A few minutes before 10:30 p.m. local time, chaos ensued: it is unknown what caused more than a hundred people to be crushed, but witnesses say that panic spread to several arteries around the street where many of the deaths occurred, near the Hamilton Hotel, with police having difficulty controlling the sea of people.
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