As toll rises to 153, Seoul focuses on how a festive night turned deadly

Concerned relatives raced to hospitals in search of their loved ones Sunday as South Korea mourned the deaths of 153 people, mostly in their 20s and 30s, who got trapped and crushed after a huge Halloween party crowd surged into a narrow alley in a nightlife district in Seoul.

Seoul:  Witnesses said the crowd surge on Saturday night in the Itaewon area caused “a hell-like” chaos as people fell on each other “like dominoes”. Some people were bleeding from their noses and mouths while being given CPR, witnesses said. The interior ministry said the death count could further rise as 37 of the injured were in serious condition. 

Scant security for Halloween raises questions in S Korea