Concerned relatives raced to hospitals in search of their loved ones Sunday as South Korea mourned the deaths of at least 151 people, mostly in their teens and 20s, who got trapped and crushed after a huge Halloween party crowd surged into a narrow alley in a nightlife district in Seoul.
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Witnesses said the crowd surge in the Itaewon area on Saturday night caused "a hell-like" chaos as people fell on each other "like dominos." Some people were bleeding from their noses and mouths while being given CPR, witnesses said, while others clad in Halloween costumes continued to sing and dance nearby, possibly without knowing the severity of the situation.
"I still can't believe what has happened. It was like a hell," said Kim Mi Sung, an official at a non-profit organization that promotes tourism in Itaewon.
Kim said she performed CPR on 10 people who were unconscious and nine of them were declared dead on the spot. Kim said the 10 were mostly women wearing witch outfits and other Halloween costumes.