The loved ones of victims killed in a stampede in South Korea are searching for answers as the death toll tops 150.
Partygoers, mostly teenagers and young adults, flooded the streets of the neighbourhood of Itaewon in Seoul to enjoy the country’s first Halloween celebrations since the lifting of Covid restrictions.
But the night took a tragic turn as the crowd surged into “a hell-like” chaos and revellers fell on each other “like dominoes”.
Philomene Aby headed to a South Korean community centre to search for any news of her 22-year-old son, Masela, who went missing in the wake of the crush.
Masela went to work at a club in the Itaewon area at around 6pm on Saturday. That was the last time Ms Aby, a Seoul resident from the Ivory Coast, saw him.
“I called his number but ... he wasn’t answering,” Ms Aby said while standing in the Hannam-dong Community Service Centre, which became a makeshift missing persons facility in the wake of the disaster.
Bureaucrats who typically handle birth certificates or housing registrations sought to help hundreds of distraught people seeking details of their relatives.
Officers at the centre manned emergency phone lines, taking hundreds of frantic calls from those seeking to find missing people.
One person broke down and kneeled on the floor after speaking to some officials at the centre, according to a Reuters witness. A whiteboard in the main office lists updated numbers of calls every hour, totalling more than 4,100 since 5.30am on Sunday.
“No one is telling me the truth,” said Ms Aby, who has lived in Seoul with her son for 18 years. With no sign of news about the son, Ms Aby left the centre for the Ivory Coast embassy.
Earlier today, South Korean officials said that they were still in the process of identifying the victims but almost 90 per cent of those killed have now been identified.
A total of 22 foreign nationals have been confirmed dead, including one Norwegian, one Australian and four Chinese citizens.
But interior minister Lee Sang-min said that it takes more time to identify foreign nationals or teenagers who have yet to be registered with the government, in which cases they have to directly check with the families.
One father came to collect his daughter’s body at a funeral home linked to a hospital in Seoul, having received a call at 1am from authorities who identified her.
“This news came like a bolt from the blue sky,” he said.
As families grieve the loss of their loved ones, South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol declared a national period of mourning and ordered flags at government buildings and public offices to be raised at half-mast.
“This is really devastating. The tragedy and disaster that need not have happened took place in the heart of Seoul amid Halloween [celebrations],” he said during a televised speech.
“I feel heavy-hearted and cannot contain my sadness as a president responsible for the people’s lives and safety.”
