South Korean President Yoon Seo-yeol (fourth from right) learned about the situation at the stampede accident in Itaewondong, Yongsan District, Seoul. Photo provided by/ Xinhua News Agency
"When I arrived at Itaewon , there were a lot of people." Chinese man Yuan Yi, who works in South Korea, told Beijing Youth Daily reporter that although he has lived in South Korea for a long time, he has never been to Itaewon on Halloween. "I heard that Halloween is fun, so I went with my friends." Yuan Yi said that it was around 9 pm when he arrived in Itaewon. At that time, there were many people in Itaewon, and even the main road where he usually drove was full of pedestrians. "Most of them were young people aged 20 to 30, and there were children taken by their parents."
Yuanyi also noticed that people have been pouring into Itaewon from the subway station. "There are still police officers diversion on the road, and ambulances are also parked on the side of the road. Ambulances have prepared stretchers, and fire trucks are passing by from time to time." Yuan Yi said, "Our car was stuck in Itaewon and it took almost two hours to get out."
Yuan Yi said that he only learned that there was an accident in Itaewon, whom he had just been to. "My friend and I were both scared. Fortunately, we saw that there were too many people and we were afraid that something would happen and we left without getting out of the car."
witnessed a Chinese man named Li at the rescue site and told the Beijing Youth Daily reporter that he had passed by the site of the incident at around 9 o'clock that night. "There were a lot of people here when I passed by." Mr. Li said that he went to Itaewon that day because he was doing business nearby.
At around 11 pm, Mr. Li was about to return home. Before leaving, he heard that a stampede occurred in Itaewon. "The place where the accident happened is next to the subway station. If you take the subway from the main road, you will pass by that alley." Mr. Li said that when he arrived at the scene, traffic control had been carried out nearby, and the police have been guiding the crowd. There were many police cars, fire trucks and ambulances on the roadside, and the ambulances kept driving and leaving. "A lot of people were lying on the street at that time," he said. Text/Reporter Wang Tianqi
