At least 146 people were killed in a stampede when a huge crowd celebrating Halloween crammed into an alley in a night life area of the South Korean capital Seoul on Saturday night, emergency officials said.
A further 150 people were injured in the crush in Seoul's Itaewon district, Choi Sung-beom, head of the Yongsan Fire Station, said in a briefing at the scene.
Social media footage showed hundreds of people packed in the narrow, sloped alley crushed and immobile as emergency officials and police tried to pull them to free. Other footage showed chaotic scenes of fire officials and citizens treating dozens of people who appeared to be unconscious. It was the first Halloween event in three years after the country lifted COVID restrictions and social distancing. Some witnesses described the crowd becoming increasingly unruly and agitated as the evening deepened.