The Itaewon crowd crush took 159 young souls within the alleyway.

Itaewon is one of the most popular, travelled to, party district in Seoul, South Korea, and the area itself is filled to the brim with bars, clubs and restaurants, so the night life there is perfect for the celebration of Halloween, which is why many foreigners travelled here for one night for the occasion.

The metro station is nearby this area, and an alleyway is connected, allowing a shortcut for people to get to their destination quicker. 

On 29 October 2022 around 10pm, crowds start growing rapidly, the space is cramped and emergency calls flood stations.

However, before the incident even occurred, there were many signs it was going to take place.

More than 1000 people were in a cramped alleyway at 5pm, which is 5 hours prior the time of the tragedy, and within that crowd many got a feeling that something was going to happen and that they felt unsafe, so they posted on social media updating those planning to come here to be careful and be mindful of the congestion. 

A police officer can be seen desperately trying to control traffic, and he wasn't even in charge of that area with only 22 police there, creating a critical issue.

At 18.30pm, civilians called the police, preempting the tragedy, and only one officer was sent to patrol without a megaphone, which means their voice can't be heard in the loud music.

Callers were reassured more police are on their way, as 10 more calls came through in the next 3 hours.

Soon, the situation escalated and many tried climbing the sides of the building to get a fresh breath. 

However, breathing difficulties arose as one tripped on another like dominoes till they suffocated, leading to so many unavoidable deaths.

Many attempted to do CPR as faces turned blue, eyes rolled back with their mouths wide open.

Gasping and coughing filled the alley, as those remaining with consciousness began to carry the injured inside the shops along the alleyway.

To provide an image of how cramped it was, there were 6 layers of people stacked on top of each other, and soon emergency alerts were sent via phones.

At 11pm, 30 ambulances had been dispatched late and Halloween has been officially called off in the area.

159 young souls  159 young souls were taken, so the question that arose was, who's responsible?

No one took accountability, not the police nor the subway station organizers. 

If the police were dispatched on time and responded to the calls earlier instead of assuming the situation would dissipate, could this have been avoided.

Fortunately, many changes have been made in the area to prevent this, but many think it's not enough and those involved should be charged and held accountable for.

In the end, the case was closed, memorials were held and bodies sent back by plane.

Insight into the tragic event - Itaewon crowd crush help avoid this in the future.