The Itaewon district in South Korea’s capital is known to revelers as a place of fun, freedom and openness. But its narrow, steep streets and constrained access points proved a lethal mix for Halloween partygoers who became trapped in a crowd crush that left more than 150 people dead.

Dubbed "World Food Street" by tourism officials, the warren of alleyways and streets behind the red-brick bulk of the Hamilton Hotel is home to nightclubs, bars, and an eclectic variety of restaurants that reflects Itaewon's international heritage and draws young Koreans in ever-greater numbers.

Map depicting where the Itaewon district is located within Seoul, slightly north of the Han River.

As police investigate Saturday’s events, a picture is emerging of how a celebration spiraled into disaster — leaving a nation in collective grief and lingering questions about crowd management and responses by police and local authorities. The National Police Commissioner, Yoon Hee-keun, acknowledged that crowd control was inadequate, and President Yoon Suk-yeol said it was critical to improve emergency responses. Police on Tuesday released transcripts of emergency calls that showed increasing distress among revelers as the crowd swelled, providing nearly four hours of warnings that went mostly unheeded.

This account of the tragedy was pieced together from the testimony of more than 15 witnesses, police transcripts, visual evidence and open-source material shared on social media that was verified by Reuters. Some of those who spoke to Reuters did so on the condition of full or partial anonymity, citing personal trauma or privacy reasons.

The evening had begun with optimism. South Korea was marking Halloween almost free of the COVID-19 restrictions that had dampened recent years’ festivities, and Itaewon was ready to party. The crowd was mostly young; many wore colorful costumes as they converged on the area with friends.

Authorities say more than twice as many people left Itaewon metro station on Saturday than the year before, with as many as 100,000 estimated to be in the area. Three narrow streets and alleyways leading to the station were particularly crammed.

The bustling streets and alleys of bars near the Hamilton Hotel are in full swing as tens of thousands flock to the area, many arriving via the metro station.

The crowd becomes dangerously packed in “World Food Street” behind the hotel and the connecting alleys. Police received at least 11 emergency calls before people were crushed in the alleys.

The scale of the crowd was apparent to Linda, a 20-year-old exchange student from Latvia, when she got off the metro at Itaewon shortly before 10 p.m.

"The movement was slow, but bearable," she said.

Linda and her friends headed north along part of the World Food Street — where booths had been set up for face painting and other Halloween crafts, further cramping the space — and turned left, down a street filled with clubs behind the Hamilton.

"We thought that soon we will reach some kind of an end of the clubbing street where there will be not as much people,” she said. “We were wrong."

There were too many people to move easily, but with the night still young, most seemed relatively sober, said a 29-year-old South Korean graduate student who asked not to be named.

Around the same time, Janelle Story, a 35-year-old teacher from the United States, left the station and headed west before turning north into a narrow street. She had joined a pub crawl.

"Walking through the crowd at 9:30 was shocking, but it felt almost slow and steady," she said.

What none of these witnesses realized as they inched toward the Hamilton Hotel was that in the swarm ahead, revelers increasingly fearful of the crowd’s density had been calling police for hours, with little response.

According to police, 11 emergency calls were made from Itaewon before the crush turned deadly.

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Transcripts

18:34 Police: Emergency line 112Caller: We're at the entrance to the Itaewon main street.Police: OK. Itaewon main streetCaller: Hello? You know the Emart24 store in the alley of Hamilton Hotel going towards the club?Police: Emart 24 in the alley of Hamilton HotelCaller: Yes, so there are people going up and down that alley, and it's very worrying. So people can come down but people continue to come into so people might get crushed. We just managed to get out but the crowd is too much and you're going to need to control this.Police: So you are saying people are not able to pass by well and it looks like if people get pushed and crushed, then a big accident can happen, that's what you're saying?Caller: Yes, yes, it's really scary. The alley that you're going up, it's a very narrow alley, and people coming out of the Itaewon station are all coming up there and they're getting mixed up with people coming out and then people are lining up at the club and they are getting tangled up and blocking the people who are comingPolice: A line at the club, and there are people standing and people lining up...Caller: yes and then the people coming out of the main street, then people who are coming out of Itaewon station exit 1 are all going upthat alleyPolice: Oh, people coming out of Itaewon station and people coming out of Itaewon station... or people coming out of the alley are getting mixed upCaller: yes and nobody is directing things, the police should really be standing and controlling to let people out and then let people in because nobody is able to get out, and people are pouring out of there.Police: Understand. Police will head out and checkCaller: The guys are... OKPolice: OK  20:09 Police: Yes, Emergency report 112.Caller: Yes, is this the police station?Police: Yes.Caller: It’s just that it’s Itaewon.Police: Yes.Caller: There are so many people here that they're stuck, pushing people around, falling, and getting hurt.Police: Yes.Caller: I think you need to do something about, control this.Police: Where is the place where there are so many people that they fall and get hurt?Caller: It's Itaewon, across from Pulmyeon House, exit 3.Police: Across from Itaewon exit 3?Caller: Yes, yes.Police: Across the street?Caller: Yes, across the street.Police: Yes, we'll check it out.Caller: Please. Thank you.Police: Sure.  20:33 Police: Yes, this is the emergency report.Caller: Hello, I'm in front of the Waikiki store in Itaewon.Police: Waikiki?Caller: Yes, there's a three-way intersection in front of the Waikiki store.Police: Yes.Caller: There are so many people here right now.Police: Yes.Caller: People are falling down on the street right now, I think there’s going to be an accident. It's dangerous.Police: People fell down?Caller: Yes, collapsed and it's out of control, the road here is blocked at the three-way intersection.Police: Yes (typing the caller’s report).Caller: I think there’s going to be big trouble.Police: Oh… Okay.Caller: Yes, it's really serious.Police: Oh…Caller: I took a video, is there a way to send it to you?Police: You can text 112.Caller: Ok, I'll send it nowPolice: Yes, we’ll be on our way. Okay.Caller: Yes, I can text 112?Police: Yes, yes.Caller: Can I use mine or another friend's?Police: I think you can use your friend's.Caller: Yeah, yeah, yeah. (Aside to a person: “Send it to 112”) Okay.Police: Okay.  20:53 Police: Yes, Emergency report 112.Caller: Ah yes hello, this is (inaudible).Police: Hello?Caller: This is Itaewon, Itaewon.Police: I can't hear you well.Caller: There are so many people that (inaudible) we're going to be crushed to death, we're at the Bronz Lounge, please (inaudible).Police: Uh, what lounge?Caller: Bronz, B-R-O-N-ZPolice: What's going on?Caller: There are a lot of people right now, so (inaudible) I'm (inaudible)Police: yes? I'll trace the location.Caller: There are a lot of (inaudible) so people are being almost crushed to death.Police: Crushed to death?Caller: There’s too many people, so please (inaudible).Police: Is it because of Halloween party?Caller: Yes, that's right. It's chaos, chaos.Police: It’s chaos?Caller: Yes, it's really no joke. (Aside: I got it, I got it)Police: I'm sorry but can you spell it one more time?Caller: Yes, this is B-R-O-N-Z (inaudible) and (inaudible) it’s no joke, this isn’t a crank call.Police: You mean Bronz, Bronz bar?Caller: Not Bronz but behind (inaudible).Police: The alley behind Bronz?Caller: Yes, yes.Police: Do we follow that way?Caller: Yes, yes, yes.Police: Yes, the police are on their way.Caller: Okay, okay.  21:00 Police: Emergency report 112.Caller: Hello, I'm in Itaewon.Police: Yes.Caller: There’s so many people here right now, we’re on the verge of a major accident. Everyone is being pushed. I think you need to come here and control it.Police: Where are you located?Caller: Doesn’t it pop up when you type "Pishon”?Police: I'll trace the location.Caller: Yes, I think you need to come right now.Police: Are you near Itaewon station?Caller: Where are we right now? It's next to Bronz. The whole crowd is being pushed.Police: Bronz?Caller: Yes Bronz, I think you need to dispatch right away.Police: Yes, there are too many people?Caller: Yes, we’re tied up right now, and we’re on the verge of a major accident.Police: It's because of the Halloween event, right?Caller: Yes, yes.Police: I see.Caller: People keep getting pushed right now, I’ve been saved.Police: Yes, in front of Bronz.  21:02 Police: Yes, Emergency report 112.Caller: Yes, it's Itaewon street over here.Police: Yes.Caller: There are too many people right now.Police: Yes.Caller: Everyone is being pushed. I really think there’s going to be an accident. Everyone is going crazy. Itaewon... The... The center road... ItaewonPolice: What shop are you in front of?Caller: (Talking to oneself) What… What's the name of this store? (Asking someone) "What's the name of this store?"Caller: Wait a moment. Y-1-7-9.Police: Yes, I'll file a report.Caller: Yes, Please… Please do something about the road here. I think someone’s going to die.Police: I understand.  21:07 Police: Yes, Emergency report 112.Caller: Hello.Police: Yes, this is emergency report.Caller: Hello, this is Halloween street above Itaewon.Police: Yes.Caller: We’re near a bar called Meeting Square. There are so many people here that there’s a risk of being crushed to death.Police: Can I check the location there? Caller? Can I check the location?Caller: Please trace the location here. It’s a bar called Meeting Square (inaudible)Police: A bar called Meeting Square?Caller: Yes, Yes.Police: Yes, I understand. We'll be on our way.Caller: You have to come here and (inaudible). Please control the traffic so that everyone can go one-way, one-way.Police: Yes, I understand.Caller: Yes. Thank you.  21:10 Police: Emergency report 112. Hello?Caller: Yes, this is Itaewon, (inaudible) in Itaewon right now.Police: yes, yes.Caller: Yes, I think everyone here is going to be crushed to death.Police: There are too many people?Caller: I think people will be crushed to death. During the festival.Police: Yes, yes.Caller: Oh, hey, hey, what's that called, it's a Halloween festival but it’s a serious situation. The kids inside are being crushed to death.Police: So, where are you? Where are…Caller: Halloween festival, Halloween festival, Itaewon station.Police: Shop name, tell me the shop name. Name of the store.Caller: It’s not a shop, the whole street is like this.Police: Ah, is there a lot of people in the whole street?Caller: Yes, the street...Police: So, please be more specific about the place where there are a lot of people who are likely to be crushed, like Itaewon Station what exit.Caller: Oh, okay.Police: yes.Caller: So, what is this, what hotel is this? What is this hotel?Police: Where police officers need to be dispatched.Caller: Meeting Square? Oh, it's in front of the Meeting Square.Police: Yes.Caller: Yes, yes, the condition is a bit serious right now.Police: Meeting Square, Itaewon?Caller: Yes, Itaewon Station, Meeting Square.Police: Oh, yes, I understand. We’ll send the police. Yes.Caller: Yes.  21:51 Police: Emergency report 112.Caller: Yes, this is in front of Itaewon 108 Hip-hop Club.Police: Itaewon 108?Caller: Yes, I'm in front of the 108 Hip-hop Club in Itaewon. There are so many people here that I think you need to come out and control the number of people... Can you come out as soon as possible?Police: Hold on.Caller: I think it’s a very dangerous situation. Right now, here...Police: You mean 108 Lounge.Caller: Yes, 108 Hip-hop Club Lounge.Police: Yes, I understand. So you’re saying...Caller: Hurry up and come... Yes, please come quickly.Police: There are too many people there.Caller: Yes, I think you need to come here and control the number of people. Hurry up and come...Police: Yes, I understand.Caller: Yes.  22:00 Police: Emergency report 112.Caller: Ah, I want to report. This is Itaewon (police officer Itaewon), what is it in English?Police: I'll trace your location, caller.Caller: Yes, trace the location.Caller: Yes, I’ll trace the location. What happened?Caller: (Another voice) In front of Ibadom Gamjatang (Caller) We’re in an alley in front of Ibadom Gamjatang.Police: The alley in front of Ibadom Gamjatang, yes.Caller: There are a lot of people here because of Itaewon. Yeah, but, people are pushing when coming down from the alley, I think people are going to be crushed so please control it, yeah?Police: Are people on the road?Caller: Yes.Police: I got it. We’ll trace the location over there and go out.Caller: (Aside) Let's go. Can I hang up now?Police: Yes, we're on our way.Caller: Yes.Police: You can hang up.  22:11 Police: Yes, Emergency report 112.Caller: Here, think (people) are going to be crushed to death, everyone's going crazy.Police: Where?Caller: Hello?Police: Yes, “crushed to death”.Caller: I'm in front of (inaudible) Cosine,Police: What?Caller: In front of Cosine, is it 112?Police: Yes, Pocaine?Caller: Poatei Countei*, everyone here.Police: I'll trace your location. Yes, is it near Yongsan Station, Itaewon Station?Caller: Ahhh (screaming) Ahhh (screaming), Itaewon back street. Itaewon back street.Police: Yes, police will be on their way.

"There are people going up and down that alley, and it's very worrying. So people can come down but people continue to come into (the alley) so people might get crushed," said the first caller at 6:34 p.m., describing an alley on the west side of the Hamilton Hotel where most of the casualties would occur about four hours later.

Police said they sent officers in response to four of the calls, but were still determining what they did when they arrived. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said on Wednesday that police must “provide a clear and transparent explanation to the public". Local authorities said they took no steps to plan for crowd control because their protocols are based on events with a central organizer who typically asks for government help.

Witnesses who had converged behind the Hamilton Hotel told Reuters they felt a palpable change in the crowd shortly after 10 p.m.

The final call released by police came at 10:11 p.m.

“(People) are going to be crushed to death, everyone's going crazy,” the unidentified caller says, as the transcript noted screams heard over the phone.

Linda said she initially thought there was a fight going on because club workers were filming the crowd.

"I felt panic starting to fill the air. Pushing started, we were pushed backwards."

Rather than a sudden rush or stampede, the crowd density had increased, making movement impossible; survivors said they found it hard to breathe. Some tried to scale buildings to escape. Others shouted, cried or cursed.

“I’m not a tall person, I was literally just trapped by people on my back and front,” said the Korean student, “people were pushing me in every direction and I could not breathe well.”

Linda and her friends found a small wall to perch on at the top of a sloping alleyway on the western side of the Hamilton.

Linda's view

Reuters made a composite of image frames from video shot by Linda, to show a panoramic view of the crowded street.

Compulsory description of your video for screen readers.

REUTERS/LINDA @DABAKLUSA

It was there, around 10:35 p.m., that she saw the first police officer, standing on something and shouting for the crowd to move away from the hotel.

“We saw the policeman up close for a second — he was covered in sweat, screaming as loud as he can, but almost helpless,” she said.

Linda and her friends decided to make a run for it. But it was hard to remain upright.

“Then the scariest moment happened — all the air disappeared for a few seconds and breathing was only possible if you could stretch a little higher than the crowd,” she said.

The busy "World Food Street", lined with bars, clubs and restaurants, is connected to Itaewon Road by a narrow alley next to the Hamilton Hotel.

The alley is 42 metres long and only 7 metres wide at the top and 3.6 metres wide in the narrowest section, creating a funnel shape.

The entrance to the alley is 4.3 metres higher than the bottom, creating a slope downwards towards the narrow section.

Online videos show dense crowds moving down the alley at night. At one stage, people began to fall, witnesses said.

In the narrow section of the alley, video footage showed bodies piling up as crowds continued to push down the alley from the top.

In the sloping alleyway next to the Hamilton’s tall brick walls, which narrows from about 7 metres at the top to less than 3.6 metres at the bottom, people began to fall.

"A person right next to me fell, but then people behind me continued to push me, then more people fell down and kind of piled up on one another," said another 30-year-old graduate school student from Seoul. "I screamed at people who were pushing me: 'Don't push! People fell!'"

People landed on or under others in a crush that left a pile of bodies wedged between buildings, some at the bottom appearing unconscious or dead. Some reached out to a small group of emergency workers who had arrived on the scene and spent more than an hour struggling to free them.

On Monday, police said they were investigating conflicting reports that a group of men started shoving just before the alley crush, but that no single cause had been identified beyond overcrowding.

Yoon, the police commissioner, said on Tuesday that even as people called police to report the unfolding situation, officers did not properly respond until it was too late.

Yongsan fire authorities said they received their first emergency call at 10:24 p.m. and dispatched the first four ambulances at 10:27 p.m. Five minutes later, they deployed nine more ambulances and several fire trucks.

As calls for help flooded in, by 11:30 p.m. authorities were calling for dozens more ambulances from across the Seoul area.

Flashing lights illuminated survivors as they huddled under blankets on Itaewon’s main street.

As of Thursday, the death toll stood at 156 with 172 injured. Among the dead, dozens of whom suffered cardiac arrest, were at least six school students, as well as 26 foreign nationals from 14 countries.

CROWD DENSITY

On Saturday, 81,573 people disembarked at Itaewon station, according to Seoul Metro, up from 31,878 the year before.

Proper crowd and traffic control by the authorities could have prevented or at least reduced the surge of Halloween partygoers in alleys, experts said. Instead, authorities acknowledged that preparations focused on COVID-19 measures and conducting drug busts.

Three illustrations each show one square meter of space at different levels of crowd densities. The first, at three people per square metre, depicts three people standing in a single square metre, with freedom to move their limbs in all directions. The second, at five people per square metre, represents the maximum recommended crowd density and shows five people standing close together with limited mobility. The last, at 12 people per square metre, illustrates the reported density in the alley. The 12 people in the illustration are pressed together tightly. The crowd becomes fluid and moves as a whole.

Paek Seung-joo, professor of fire and disaster protection at Open Cyber University of Korea, said that based on police estimates there may have been up to 12 people per square metre in the sloping alleyway next to the Hamilton, where most of the casualties occurred.

"You can't move your arms. You can't move your body. If that happens, I am being pushed along by the force of the crowd itself," he said.

In that situation, crowd characteristics change, Paek said.

"People do things that they don't do under normal, reasonable circumstances, like booing and screaming," he said. "And then you have competitive behavior, which refers to a minimum of action to protect yourself in that narrow space."

Finally, people trapped in those situations are often unable to rationally accept instructions, Paek said.

“In terms of management, we need to control and reduce the density so that we don't get to that point in the first place,” he said.

Police said they had only 137 officers in Itaewon that night. That was slightly more than previous years, but far less than the 4,000 deployed at political rallies in central Seoul the same day. Most of the police in Itaewon appear to have been tasked with traffic control or crime prevention, according to authorities and witnesses.

Witnesses told Reuters they saw police near the main street directing traffic, but few or none in the alleyways.

Interior Minister Lee Sang-min initially said deploying more police would not have prevented the disaster, but other officials have since acknowledged deficiencies.

AFTERMATH

As people gradually broke or were pulled free, bystanders and a handful of emergency workers performed CPR on dozens of unconscious people splayed across the streets.

Around 11:20 p.m., Park Keun-ho, owner of the rooftop pub Havana about two blocks from the alley crush, saw bodies being carried through the street below. He ran down to help.

Before crush

9:55 pm

After crush

11:20 pm

Blurb

Videos shot before and after the crush by Park Keun-ho from his pub, Havana. REUTERS / PARK KEUN-HO HANDOUT

He started to perform CPR on one young woman, remembering the procedure from TV, he said. When she regained consciousness, he urged her to stay awake and told her, “Don’t close your eyes!”

The surges and shockwaves of bodies pressing through the crowds were not limited to the alley where many of the deaths occurred, with casualties reported in several other narrow locations. Survivors said it took them more than an hour in some cases to escape.

About 50 metres away from the alley, Story said her pub crawl group had no idea what was happening.

“The tide of people that I was caught in — the one I filmed — was actually moving away from the alley,” she said. “I only realised the next day when trying to make sense of what happened that we were probably caught in a stampede of people running away in fear.”

Throughout the mayhem, loud music continued to blast from bars and clubs, drowning out calls for help and instructions from police, and leaving many people nearby initially oblivious to the tragedy unfolding.

“A moment I will never forget — when we were gasping for air, trying to stand and not fall — (was) people sitting in the lounge looking into our eyes while drinking, dancing and laughing,” Linda said.

About 30 metres from the top of the alley, 32-year-old architect Ken Fallas said he heard screams, but they were difficult to make out over the music.

Some police arrived and Fallas said he saw the first people on the ground as officers began trying to resuscitate them.

“We thought it was something inside a club, or a fire, or even a fight, we didn't know that it was because of a stampede,” he said

WARNING
Graphic content

Blurb

People are carried from the crowd and given CPR. REUTERS / @KENFALLAS

Police were asking for volunteers who knew CPR as there were not enough officers, Fallas said.

“People tried to help but everyone was scared, no one understood what was going on,” he said.

Social media soon filled with shocking images of bodies laid in rows on the street, many with clothes awry from the crush and efforts to administer CPR. Later they would be draped with blue cloths before being taken away to morgues, where distraught families would collect them.

The full scale of the horror in Itaewon shocked the nation. Among the dead, most were younger than 30. Nearly two-thirds were women.

“I still see those images in front of my eyes when I sleep at night,” said Park, the pub owner.

Additional reporting by

Heekyong Yang, Daewoung Kim, Joyce Lee, Minwoo Park, Hyun Young Yi, Soo-hyang Choi, Nur-Azna Sanusi, Jack Kim, Mariana Sandoval and Hyonhee Shin.

Additional work and development by

Manas Sharma and Jackie Gu

Aerial imagery

S-Map, Seoul Metropolitan Government

Sources

Yongsan police; Yongsan fire department; S-Map, Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Edited by

David Crawshaw