Itaewon crowd crush: ‘Felt like an accident was bound to happen’

Witnesses and bystanders in South Korean Halloween disaster tell how thick post-Covid crowds overwhelmed Seoul party district with deadly results

Partygoers in costumes fleeing in panic, desperate attempts at first aid on the sidewalks, scores of bodies lined up under makeshift shrouds: in Seoul's lively Itaewon district, a Halloween festival turned to tragedy on Saturday.

At least 150 people were killed in a crowd surge and stampede, the cause of which remained unclear on Sunday. The popular, cosmopolitan district of the South Korean capital, located close to a former US military base, is renowned for its bars and clubs.