On the night of October 29, in Seoul, the weather was slightly cloudy, the temperature was 12 degrees, the ban on outdoor masks that had been in place for a year and five months had just been lifted a few weeks ago, and on the eve of Halloween on the weekend, young people could be seen everywhere in Seoul. Those young people known as the "Covid generation" can finally celebrate Halloween as their first holiday. However, no one could have foreseen that the festival turned into a disaster.
1
A Japanese tourist filmed the scene around Itaewon before the incident with a continuous footage, and it can be seen from the picture that as the tourist gradually entered the core of Itaewon, the narrow alleys and undulating slopes were crowded with fashionable and exaggerated young people, who were smiling at this time, completely unaware that disaster was coming.
At 10:24 p.m., the Seoul Yongsan Fire Department received the first notification call, saying that "more than a dozen people have been suppressed in Itaewon." ”
At this point, the Japanese tourist was already caught up in the crowd, and the picture showed him in it for several minutes, unable to move forward or retreat, as the crowd surged, many people exclaimed, and some people kept gesturing to stop the followers.
But to no avail, everyone was squeezed to the point of immobility, and everyone showed a look of fear.
Nineteen minutes later, the fire authorities activated Phase 1 of the response, requesting the 119 Emergency Situation Management Center's Disaster Medical Support Team to dispatch. In the following 40 minutes, the number of reports increased, with 81 callers reporting breathing difficulties.
Fortunately, the Japanese tourist turned around in time and it took nearly 10 minutes to finally squeeze out of the crowd, and he could see that the people around him had to push the trash cans on the side of the road hard to find shelter.
Others kept climbing high on the side of the road to hide, while more people screamed.
Some police officers shouted in the crowd for the crowd to disperse. But the surrounding music is noisy, and it is no longer helpful.
And those who are inside the alleys of Itaewon can neither turn around nor save themselves, the crowd is becoming more and more crowded, fear spreads everywhere, and the picture is full of helplessness and suffocation.
At this time, a number of Itaewon live videos appeared on social media, most of which were only tens of seconds, the crowd in the picture was firmly squeezed together, the man in the white shirt was squeezed in the crowd and could not move, could only raise his head from time to time and shout, the painful screams of the people around him also rose one after another, and behind him there were many women who could not stand.
In one video, a man climbs the roadside wall in a hurry to barely get out of the crowd, but except for him, no one else can get out of the trap and is squeezed forward and backward.
At 22:53, an emergency medical center was opened on Hangang Road near Itaewon Station on the subway to treat the wounded. In Itaewon streets, rescuers tried to pull out the woman who was squeezed into the crowd.
But it was so crowded that even rescuers couldn't pull it out and had to give up for the time being. Some survivors lifted the injured and tried to find an open area for rescue.
At 23:13 and 23:50, the fire authorities activated the second and third phases of the response respectively, sending a total of 142 ambulances to rescue. In addition to rescuers, many people also participated in the rescue and performed CPR on those who fell to the ground. But many more have stopped beating and breathing, and bodies are displayed on the road.
As of 3 a.m., 848 police and firefighters had been dispatched from Seoul.
After a bloody night, the Itaewon crowd has dispersed and the bodies of the victims have been removed. However, the scene was chaotic, with all kinds of abandoned items everywhere, and the number of casualties was still increasing.
On the morning of the 30th, the Chinese Embassy in South Korea confirmed that 3 of the 19 foreign dead were Chinese; At 1 p.m., the number of Chinese dead rose to four.
2
Itaewon, also known as the "City of Nations", is close to the Yongsan base of the US military in South Korea, and has been visited by a large number of US troops since the 1950s, this originally low-income settlement has gradually become lively, and American-style restaurants and bars have become more and more open. Itaewon is famous for its nightclubs, which attract young people.
The chaos of the accident continued, and a day after the incident, some citizens came to check the list to find the missing family members, and some family members were so sad that they fainted on the spot. A number of Korean media have rated the Itaewon stampede as the worst public safety incident in South Korea since the sinking of the Sewol passenger ship in 2014.
In its October 27 press release, the Yongsan-gu Office, which belongs to Itaewon, only mentioned epidemic prevention measures for Halloween events, and did not mention measures to safely manage crowds. In the past, the local police department would send about 800 police officers to patrol Halloween events, but this year, only 200 police officers were deployed to investigate drugs, sexual crimes, secretly photographing and theft, which is far from enough.
During the epidemic of the new crown virus in South Korea, Itaewon, which is densely populated, has repeatedly become a "breakthrough point for epidemic prevention" and has been repeatedly affected by business closures. Itaewon, which has a permanent population of less than 9,000 people, poured in more than 100,000 people in a "revenge celebration" on Halloween night. The alley where the stampede occurred was a slope about 3.2 meters wide and 5.7 meters long next to the Hamilton Hotel, where more than 300 people were seated in a space of about 18 square meters.
From the "paradise of joy" for tourists to the "killing alley" that shocked the world, Itaewon is grief-stricken, bars and restaurants have closed, and people have built temporary altars to commemorate the deceased with flowers and drinks.
After the incident, the South Korean authorities provided about 77,000 yuan for each victim with funeral expenses, and at the same time used medical insurance funds to pay for the injured in advance. Collective incense burners have been set up at 17 locations across South Korea for bereaved families to mourn the victims.
3
As of November 2, the stampede in Itaewon, South Korea, has killed 156 people and injured more than 100. South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue went to the mourning site at the exit of Itaewon subway station on November 1 to lay flowers and observe a moment of silence for the victims, and South Korean Police Commissioner Yoon Hee-geun also publicly apologized to the public at a press conference on the same day for the Itaewon people's stepping accident.
In recent years, there have been serious stampedes around the world that have resulted in tragic casualties, most recently in Indonesia, less than a month after the Itaewon stampede in South Korea.
On October 1, at a homegrown soccer league in Indonesia, home fans burst into the stadium dissatisfied with the result, and police unleashed tear gas to try to disperse the crowd but caused a stampede that killed 174 people and injured more than 400. It was one of the world's worst stadium disasters to date.
In addition to sporting events, many large-scale events such as concerts are also a high incidence of stampede accidents. In July 2010, Germany's famous electronic music festival "Parade of Love" ended with a tragedy in which thousands of people preparing to leave the venue poured into a 150-meter-long underground passage, causing a panic stampede that killed 21 people and injured more than 300.
In the view of current affairs commentator Du Ping, the key to avoiding stampede accidents lies in the intervention of the flow of people.
Current affairs commentator Du Ping:
"The life of a city is actually a contradiction between people and space, and managers must pay attention to the fact that this space cannot exceed many people, cannot be free and open during this period, and must actively intervene."
On April 30, 2021, during a Jewish religious event in northern Israel, 45 people were trampled to death and hundreds injured in a trampling accident caused by the collapse of the stands.
In addition to the crowd factor, Du Ping believes that rational construction of urban infrastructure to ensure the safety of human life is also an important part of avoiding accidents.
Current affairs commentator Du Ping:
"(Urban construction) has always been the pursuit of more advanced, more developed, more convenient, more modern, etc., but often overlooked a big thing, who is this city built for?"
4
On January 1, 1993, more than 20,000 people gathered in Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong to count down to welcome the New Year, but due to the forced environment at the scene, the crowd trampled on each other, eventually killing 21 people and injuring 63, most of them young people.
Current affairs commentator Du Ping:
"Lan Kwai Fong is actually very narrow and sloped, and it is also prone to this large-scale, rapid crowd gathering. Especially when reveling, emotions are uncontrollable. ”
Training Manager of St. John's Ambulance Society Hong Kong Cheng Kam Wah:
"It will cause a panic crowd, and suddenly there are some people who want to play, but some people don't want to play, and the panic crowd will retreat, plus the ground is slippery, plus there are too many people, and there will be so many people on the scene, there will be a domino effect, causing accidents."
Similar to Itaewon, Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong is also on a slope, and when someone falls, the domino effect of the slope is quickly amplified.
Hong Kong's St. John's Ambulance was responsible for the on-site rescue of the stampede in Lan Kwai Fong, and Cheng Jinhua admitted that after the stampede accident, many witnesses, including rescuers and rescued people, experienced traumatic stress reactions.
Current affairs commentator Du Ping:
"Very heavy lessons and bloody lessons have brought many new concepts to city managers, and maintaining the safety of the city is the first."
After the Lan Kwai Fong stampede, various sectors in Hong Kong have carried out many reviews and improvements in emergency rescue work, and auxiliary teams such as the Civil Security Team have been added to assist in crowd management during major festivals.
Current affairs commentator Du Ping:
"Where is the management level of each city, where is the safety awareness, can be reflected at this time." Avoiding similar things is smart management. ”
Traditional urban governance often revolves around public security, and with the development and expansion of cities, the continuous influx of diverse cultures and activities increases the complexity of cities, and de-primitivization is the trend of urban development and the new requirements put forward by society for urban governors.
With the advancement of science and technology, more and more artificial intelligence elements are also used to maintain public safety.
Professor Tang Xiaoou, Department of Information Engineering, Chinese University of Hong Kong:
"In the past, if it was all used to see by people, thousands or hundreds of cameras required a large number of people to look at the cameras, but now they can be automatically counted with intelligent algorithms, and if there are special circumstances, it can be foreseen."
Training Manager of St. John's Ambulance Hong Kong Cheng Kam Wah:
"If you really encounter such a situation, remember not to lie on the ground, as much as possible to curl together, lie on your side, do not lie flat, do not go up, this will be safer." Because there is space for the lungs to continue breathing and breathing. ”
In Zheng's view, there are more public safety-related education that requires the joint efforts of the government, citizens and society.
Producer: Ke Zhongping
Choreographer: Yi Yuanyuan, Xu Yingming, Xiao Xiya
Editor: Ding Xiao