Victims named after 154 killed during Halloween parade crush in South Korea

A week of national mourning has begun in South Korea as it tries to get to grips with the tragedy in Seoul, Debi Edward reports

The names of those who died in a Halloween stampede that killed more than 150 people in South Korea's capital have started to emerge.

They include 24-year-old Lee Jihan, 20-year-old Anne Gieske, and 20-year-old Steven Blesi.

The crowd surge happened on Saturday night in the nightlife district of Itaewon in Seoul, with the current death toll at 154 people, including 26 foreign nationals.

Witnesses said the surge down a sloped, narrow alley caused “a hell-like” chaos as people fell on each other “like dominoes."

After the country's worst disaster since 2014, on Sunday South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol declared a one-week national mourning period.

King Charles said he and the Queen Consort were "deeply shocked and saddened by the incident and offered "special thoughts and wishes for a speedy recovery" to the injured.

On Monday officials said a further 149 people remain injured, but the death toll could rise further because 33 of the injured were in serious conditions.

A police investigation has been launched as South Korea's Prime Minister Han Duck-soo vowed the government would "make necessary improvements of systems to prevent a similar accident from recurring."

Nearly two-thirds of the dead - 98 - were women, while more than 80% of the dead were in their 20s or 30s, the Interior Ministry said.

K-Pop star and actor Lee Jihan was named as one of the victims of the stampede.

The 24-year-old's agencies 935 Entertainment and 9 Ato Entertainment said he had "become a star in the sky and left us."

He was described as "a sweet and warm friend to all."

The dead included about 26 foreign nationals. Five were from Iran, four from China, four from Russia, two from the United States, two from Japan, and one each from Australia, Norway, France, Austria, Vietnam, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka, according to South Korea's Interior Ministry.

One of the two Americans who died was Anne Gieske, a nursing student from University of Kentucky, who was studying in South Korea.

The university confirmed she was among the victims of the crush and said "we will provide whatever support we can" to Anne's family as they cope with an "indescribable loss."

On her Instagram account, she posted a picture of her 20th birthday celebrations just three days ago.

The other American confirmed dead in the crush was 20-year-old Steven Blesi.

Steven's father Steve Blesi tweeted on Saturday night asking for help to find his son.

He said: "Our son was in the area of stampede in Seoul, we still have not heard from him. Authorities are trying to help.

"If anyone has any news please share."

Three hours later Steve tweeted: "We just got confirmation our son died. Thank you for the outpouring of love. We need time to grieve."

Police said they've launched a 475-member task force to investigate the crush.

Officers have obtained videos taken by about 50 security cameras in the area and are also analysing video clips posted on social media.

They have interviewed more than 40 witnesses and survivors so far, senior police officer Nam Gu-Jun told reporters Monday.

Other police officers said they are trying to find exactly when and where the crowd surge started and how it developed.

They said a team of police officers and government forensic experts searched the Itaewon area on Monday.

Police said they dispatched 137 officers to maintain order during Halloween festivities on Saturday, more than the 34-90 officers mobilised in 2017, 2018 and 2019 before the pandemic.

Tens of thousands of South Korean people, including the president and other top officials, have visited special memorial sites, placed white flowers and bowed deeply to honour the dead.

As part of the period of national mourning, the president ordered flags at government buildings and public offices to fly at half mast.

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