The Crowd Crush is Seoul Was Like a ‘Tsunami Wave’

SEOUL — By 8 p.m. on Saturday, the throngs of individuals have been already too massive for the slim alley full of bars.

There was nearly no crowd management, mentioned Nuhyin Ahmed, 32, who together with a number of mates tried to get by way of to affix Halloween revelers within the alley subsequent to the Hamilton Lodge within the Itaewon nightlife district. They gave up after 20 minutes and went down a distinct alleyway.

However even there, Mr. Ahmed mentioned, there was minimal police presence, maybe 4 officers attempting to information the mass of individuals pouring in. Mr. Ahmed, a tech employee from India, and his mates ended up again on the principle avenue, the place he mentioned the group felt like a wave, with forces pushing him forwards and backwards.

“I didn’t know the place it was coming from, backwards or entrance or the center; it was like a tsunami wave,” he mentioned. “I principally heard the screams of ladies,” he mentioned, including that it was onerous to know that what was taking place was deadly due to the loud music and the large variety of folks.

Greater than 150 folks died within the crush, with feminine victims far outnumbering males, officers mentioned Sunday. Dozens extra have been injured.

Mr. Ahmed, who had attended earlier Halloween festivities in Itaewon, mentioned he was not shocked that the alley subsequent to the Hamilton Lodge was the positioning of the worst of the crush. It was a preferred place for folks to push as much as for photographs of their costumes to put up on social media.

Final 12 months, although crowds have been lighter, he mentioned, a number of police have been monitoring and controlling the doorway to the alley subsequent to the Hamilton Lodge and shut it down round midnight.

“If these police had been there this 12 months, possibly nobody would have died,” he mentioned. “There was completely no crowd management.”

“The worst half was as folks have been giving CPR and dying, the golf equipment have been nonetheless going and so they ran till 4 a.m.,” he mentioned.