Two U.S. Citizens Killed In Seoul Halloween Crowd Surge, Embassy Says

Topline

At least two American citizens were among the 153 people killed Saturday in a deadly crowd surge at a Halloween event in South Korea, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul said Sunday, as Korean authorities identify nearly all of the victims.

Key Facts

Two young Americans were killed in the stampede as they celebrated Halloween “alongside their Korean friends and others from around the world,” U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Philip Goldberg said in a statement Sunday.

No other details about the victims were provided out of privacy considerations, the embassy said.

The Seoul embassy is working alongside local authorities and providing assistance to victims and their families, according to the statement.

What To Watch For

If the number of identified American victims rises. While the majority of victims have been identified, South Korean officials said Sunday 12 remain unidentified, which are mostly foreign nationals and minors.

Tangent

While most of the victims were Korean, at least 26 foreigners were killed, according to South Korea’s foreign ministry, from countries including France, China, Iran, Russia, Japan and Norway.

Key Background

At least 153 people were killed Saturday during a crowd surge in a narrow alleyway in Itaewon, a popular nightlife district in Seoul where tens of thousands of people congregated to celebrate the first Halloween since South Korea lifted Covid-19 restrictions. Most victims were teenagers or in their twenties, officials said, and the number of women killed outnumbered men, according to the New York Times. Officials say it’s still unclear what exactly sparked the crowd surge, but witnesses said there was little crowd control and few police in the area ahead of the crush. Lee Sang-min, South Korea’s minister of the interior and safety, said police did not anticipate Halloween crowds to be larger than previous years and did not send extra officers to the area. In addition, some personnel had been redirected because of large protests in other areas of Seoul, he said.

Further Reading

At Least 146 Killed In Seoul Halloween Stampede (Forbes)