Reporter/Zhang Han Intern Reporter/Wang Yinghan Su Zihan Wu Lin
Editor/Liu Mi
The alleys that happened were crowded with people
This is the first Halloween that does not need to wear a mask since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in South Korea. Overnight, about 100,000 people gathered in the Itaewon business district, causing the worst casualties in South Korea in eight years.
As of 6:00 on the 31st, South Korea time, the stampede accident in Itaewon has caused 154 deaths and 33 serious injuries. Four Chinese citizens have been confirmed to be killed in the accident. Medical experts analyzed that most of them died of cardiac arrest caused by asphyxiation.
Compared with other accidents, the damage caused by suffocation seems more secretive. That night, Itaewon stepped on my cell phone and wallet, but no one went to pick it up because it was difficult to bow my head. In the huge carnival atmosphere, people seem to be "accustomed to this crowding".
Even though the streets are full of ambulances and the police around them are doing CPR to the fallen person over and over again, there are still young people dancing excitedly. Under the cover of deafening music and crowds, this is more like a "silent" tragedy . It was not until the casualties numbers appeared in the news that people realized what happened this night.
While your mobile wallet, no one picks up
If you want to quickly enter Itaewon Bar Street, the uphill alley next to the subway station exit 1 is one of the most convenient choices. This 4-meter-wide and 45-meter-long alley is made of bars and shops on one side and the exterior of the Hamilton Hotel on the other.
Itaewon is located in Yongsan District, Seoul. Itaewon is a famous tourist destination for young people and foreigners to gather. It is full of restaurants, bars and clubs. Every Halloween, festivals are held here and the restaurant will be open until the early morning. Moreover, when Korean universities have just finished their midterm exams, a Chinese student said: "Going to Itaewon seems to be a customary activity on Halloween."
On the evening of October 29, Li Qian, who had just arrived in South Korea to study for three months, was also ready to set off. He combed his hair, put on a sweatshirt with a vampire pattern, and paired it with a cross necklace. After transferring from Line 4 to Metro Line 6 where Itaewon is located, there have been obvious more people getting on the bus. He was squeezed in the middle by several "Mario", "Jade Emperor" and "Spider-Man".
At 7:30 pm local time, Itaewon subway station was already overcrowded. Security personnel began to control the flow of people, and only let a wave of people go out every ten minutes. Li Qian originally made an appointment with other friends to meet at the station, but they were finally rushed out of the subway station from different exits by a stream of people. The road outside the subway station was also occupied by the crowd. Pedestrians waiting to cross the road lined up in a long queue. Li Qian felt that "the pedestrian line is as wide as four lanes."
He walked up the alley next to the Hamilton Hotel, and the whole process was "taken away". At this time, people could still maintain a distance of one arm. Li Qian was 1.65 meters tall and could only see the person in front of him. He didn't know which street he had walked to, nor could he see the shops around him. Unable to meet with friends, Li Qian temporarily left Itaewon and planned to come back after dinner. "I can't see anything, it's so annoying."
More than an hour later, in this alley next to the subway station, international student Chen Sili was also squeezed out with his friends. He heard someone making excuses in front of him, and the two streams of people surged in different directions. He wanted to go into the restaurant beside the alley to hide, but the restaurant was full of people.
Chen Sili felt difficulty breathing, like the feeling of "chest tightness and breathlessness" when climbing a mountain. The girls around him were crowded to scream. He felt that he was stepping on his cell phone and wallet, but it was difficult to bow his head and no one would want to pick it up.
Although he was not breathing well, Chen Sili didn't dare to take off his mask. He is going to return to China in one and a half months, and he has already bought the air tickets. If he is infected with , the new crown cannot return to China, he will lose nearly 10,000 yuan. "If I take off my mask here, I will be in a big mood."
At 9:50 pm, Li Qian returned to Itaewon.At this time, the traffic volume was larger than two hours ago. Li Qian squeezed into the crowd along the alley. The more he walked in, the more he felt lack of oxygen. He could only see people's heads, so cramped that he could not breathe.
They don’t know that the road will become more and more crowded next, until hundreds of people can’t move.
rescue operation was questioned and slowed
Police and firefighters were treated as transvestites
Li Qian tried to find the cafe on the navigation, but the crowd along the road was chaotic, some people went uphill and some went downhill. Li Qian's backpack was flattened. He pressed his hands against his chest, raised his shoulders, and protected his body to avoid being knocked down by someone in any direction. He tried to record the video, but his arm was unable to move and could only press his chin against the screen of the phone.
In chaos, people use various ways to connect their bodies to maintain balance. Li Qian's friends held his backpack strap tightly, and the girls they knew each other held hands, and the tall boy hugged his girlfriend in his arms. Someone's wireless headphones fell off and kept looking down, but he didn't have the chance to pick them up. Along the way, Li Qian felt that he had stepped on a lot of things, including waste cardboard, food, plastic bottles, and even Spider-Man's head hood and girls' long skirt.
Li Qian felt dizzy in the crowd, and felt the colorful lights around him dazzling, making him feel panicked. In the midst of overcrowding, some people began to climb high or jump on the green belts on the streets, but more people were still engaged in the celebration. At the door of the bar, there were girls dancing girls' group dances, and the crowd screamed; young people dressed as the protagonist of "Squid Game" greeted and high-high to every pedestrian; and some people carried pumpkin lantern to give passers-by the ghost-packaged candy.
A tall male suddenly pulled apart the crowd and squeezed forward, and many people around him almost fell down. "Get out!" "Dog!" "Don't you have eyes!", verbal mixed with noisy pop music. Li Qian gave up looking for a cafe and just wanted to leave.
Shortly after he walked out of the alley, the stampede happened. In the memories of "Southern Weekend" by the girl Xu An'an , the trampling occurred at the three-way intersection, and her location was located on the downhill of the alley. "There were many people on that passerby, and it was very popular. Some people squatted down in front, and then more and more people squatted down and fell, and they were stuck. The people behind must want to move forward, so they kept pushing, and the more they piled up." The video on site showed that the downhill intersection of the alley was filled with unmovable crowds. Passers-by wanted to "pull them out" and the stacked crowds remained motionless.
South Korean police and fire department introduced that at around 22:15, the fire department received the first call, and someone was trapped in an alley at Itaewon Station and needed rescue. Afterwards, more than 500 firefighters and more than 1,100 policemen were sent. After the firefighters arrived at the scene, they performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on more than 50 people, and many injured were sent to nearby hospitals for medical treatment. When analyzing the reasons for the slow rescue, South Korean media pointed out that the police and firefighters involved in the rescue were regarded as passers-by in Halloween, causing the rescue road to be blocked.
At 10:30 that night, Chen Sheng, an international student who had just arrived at the bar street, heard someone shouting "Doway", and then saw several policemen pushing the crowd away with their hands lights. There were more than 20 police officers, and a lane was opened from the crowd, and then people were constantly being carried out.
A clearing space was left at the intersection of bar street and the alley where the incident occurred. The police pulled out the fainting person and lay down on the ground. Chen Sheng stood at the door of the bar and filmed a video. Accompanied by the casual music of the bar, the police performed CPR for more than 20 people in front of him, while more people were lying in the distance.
Chen Sheng felt that everyone seemed to have not figured out the situation yet, "very calm." He wasn't sure how serious the situation was, and the people in the bar asked him what happened and he just said "disappeared." The fainting person was moved out with his legs on his back, and he didn't dare to look carefully. A friend who was traveling with him was later called to save people. He saw that some people's faces had turned purple and some people's mouths and stomachs were coming out. He realized that things were more serious than he thought.
The road is full of ambulances and fire trucks.It took Chen Sili more than half an hour to return to the street. He and his friends never met each other again, so he had to go home alone. When he entered the subway station, he looked back at Itaewon. Some young people were still dancing to the music, as if they were ignorant of the accident.
people paid tribute to the scene at the scene
deleted all the videos that night
At 11:20 pm, the crowds that were crowded together were slowly moved out due to trampling. Yang Meng, who had lost contact with his friend, came to the alley, "there were corpses on the road, and there was no place to step on his feet."
When he identified his friend, Yang Meng felt that he was still breathing faintly and his body was still hot. He and passers-by carried the friend to the side of the road. Only in this way can he get into the ambulance as soon as possible. But there were not enough ambulances, so Yang Meng could only wait while doing CPR for his friends, and there were also passers-by around him who were rescuing their friends.
Half an hour later, my friend was finally pulled into the ambulance, but at that time, "the body was already cold" and everything was too late. Yang Meng is still immersed in the grief of losing his friend. Later, he saw a photo of a deceased girl on social media and commented, "This girl is next to me to rescue her. I am rescuing my friend, but I was not rescued in the end."
Hong Ji-chong, a professor of emergency medicine at the Affiliated Hospital of Seoul University, told Yongha News Agency that due to a large-scale crowd stampede accident, many people had already suffocated to death when they started to save people, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was ineffective. He attributed the deaths of most victims to traumatic cardiac arrest caused by suffocation. By the time the ambulance arrived, most of the injured had stopped their heartbeat, indicating that they were pressed under the crowd and their chest was compressed, their lungs could not expand, and they died of respiratory failure.
That night, international student Cheng Jin took a lot of videos, recording the "Iron Man" he encountered on the road as he left the subway station, the "angel" with white wings, and the passers-by on the bar street. Before going to bed, she deleted all the videos because she was afraid, but she still had insomnia until five or six in the morning. "I can't sleep, it feels too close to death."
On the way home from Itaewon, Chen Sheng and his friends didn't say anything. He saw the first time he saw "Someone died in front of him, and he was a little confused." At around 2:30, he went home to check the news, and at that time, there were only two deaths. His heartbeats very fast throughout the night, "I'm not afraid, nor do I know what it feels. Maybe I suddenly felt awe of my life."
South Korean fire department said that most of the casualties in this accident were young people in their 20s. After the incident, itaewon subway station entrance No. 1 was filled with white chrysanthemum and soju. A girl and a friend walked out of Itaewon that night with her tight arms. She said she didn't plan to go there again recently. "Although we have not experienced it directly, some of the people who have died may pass by us. (Thinking of) this point is quite uncomfortable. Life is very fragile."
(At the request of the interviewee, Li Qian, Chen Sili, Xu An'an, Chen Sheng, Yang Meng, and Cheng Jin are pseudonyms in the article)
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