South Korea: Paramedics respond to serious incident in Seoul
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A young Australian has detailed how “people laughed while my friends were dying” as they were caught up in the fatal crowd crush in Seoul, South Korea. Nathan Taverniti, in his early twenties, explained on TikTok how he had been travelling with three friends, enjoying Halloween in the central Itaewon district, when they got caught up in the disaster. He spoke of trying to drag his friend out of the suffocation chaos to no avail, while his other friend has ended up in intensive care. It is not known precisely why the crush happened in Seoul, with investigations beginning today, but the confirmed death toll has risen to 154, with another 149 people injured and 33 of them in serious condition.
Mr Taverniti broke down in tears on his social media channel recounting the “slow and againising crush” in Seoul over the weekend.
Having previously released a video of him and his three friends on their night out, he struggled to come to terms with what had later transpired.
The young Australian is now acting as guardian for the body of his deceased friend, who was 12 days shy of her 24th birthday.
He said: “I was there when she said she couldn’t breathe and I grabbed one of my friend’s hands. There was no stampede, it was a slow and agonising crush.”
As South Korean investigators started combing through footage on Monday of the event, Mr Taverniti blamed the lack of planning and police preparedness for the disaster.
He said: “I watched as people filmed and sang and laughed while my friends were dying among with many other people. I was there trying to pull people out because there were not enough police officers and nobody was doing anything to make the crowd stop.
“We were yelling, saying ‘you have to turn around, you have to go back, people are dying’ but nobody was listening. I waited 30 minutes for the police to arrive where I was. It took over an hour for more police to arrive and even longer for emergency services.”
He added: ‘There were people lying on the ground getting CPR not by health professionals but by random people, whoever could. I am sad. I am devastated by this situation which could have been so easily avoided but nobody would listen.”
Sydney woman Julia Cho, who was one of four friends with Mr Taverniti, and who’s sister is in intensive care, said on her own TikTok channel that the “authorities hold sole responsibility” for the devastating incident and have “failed their people”.
South Korean investigators have now begun looking at footage from more than 50 state and private closed-circuit TV cameras, as well as from social media looking for answers to how a surge in Halloween party-goers trapped in narrow alleys killed so many.
South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has promised a thorough investigation and authorities said they were focused on reconstructing the chain of events leading up to the surge and were looking at whether anyone may have been responsible for triggering the crush.
“We are analysing CCTVs to find out the exact cause of the accident,” Police chief investigator Nam Gu-jun said. “We will continue questioning more witnesses, including nearby shop employees.”
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Tens of thousands of revellers – many in their teens and twenties and dressed in costume – had crowded into narrow streets and alleyways of the popular Itaewon district on Saturday for the first virtually unrestricted Halloween festivities in three years. Reports have suggested more than 100,000 people could have been celebrating in the vicinity.
Chaos erupted when people poured into one particularly narrow and sloping alley, even after it was already packed, witnesses said.
It has been suggested that the crowds began to surge after a rumour spread that a local celebrity was in the area.
On Monday, people laid white chrysanthemums, drinks and candles at a small makeshift altar off an exit of the Itaewon subway station.
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