A stampede at a Halloween event has left 59 dead and 150 people injured in South Korea. The crush happened on Saturday (October 28) in the capital, Seoul.
Authorities announced at a press conference that the incident happened in the popular nightclub district of Itaewon, according to the Yonhap news agency. Distressing images from the scene show body bags lying in the street.
Social media footage showed emergency services and members of the public performing CPR on several people. South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol has called an emergency meeting, reports MirrorOnline.
Emergency services said they received 81 reports of people having difficulty breathing, said the local media outlet. In South Korea, medical representatives are understood to say that someone is in "cardiac arrest" until a doctor officially announces their death.
President Yoon ordered the dispatch of emergency medical team to the area, with his office saying hospital beds should be prepared to minimise casualties.
It said: "Yoon came to the presidential office in Yongsan and is presiding over a response meeting related with the Seoul Itaewon Halloween accident."
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is cutting his overseas trip short and returning to South Korea immediately. Authorities were investigating the exact cause of the incident, the news agency said.
Tens of thousands of people had flocked to the area to celebrate the first Halloween without face masks after three years of pandemic restrictions.
