Seoul Halloween crush call transcripts reveal revellers’ growing fear: ‘People are falling down … it looks dangerous’

The transcripts released by the police show the first warnings of what was to happen were made roughly four hours before the crush turned deadly

The crush in Itaewon district on Saturday night killed 156, mainly young, people and injured another 157. Just 137 police officers were there

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Police patrol the Itaewon neighbourhood of Seoul on Sunday, a day after the deadly Halloween crush took place. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:32pm, 2 Nov 2022

Transcripts of the 11 emergency calls made in the hours and minutes before a Halloween party crush killed more than 150 people in Seoul reveal the growing fear of revellers and how they had urged the police to intervene.

The transcripts of emergency calls released by the police showed the first warning of a possible deadly surge was made at 6:34pm on Saturday, roughly four hours before the crush turned deadly.

National Police Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun on Tuesday acknowledged crowd control at the scene was “inadequate”, noting that police had received multiple reports warning of possible accidents on the night of the disaster.

A police officer in Seoul documents shoes collected from the scene of the Halloween crush. Photo: EPA-EFE

The interior minister and the city mayor have also apologised. Proper crowd and traffic control by the authorities could have prevented or at least reduced the surge of partygoers, safety experts have said.

The transcripts, released to media, give a chilling prediction of how the tragedy would unfold.

“Looks like you can get crushed to death with people keep coming up here while there’s no room for people to go down,” a citizen said in that first call. “I barely managed to leave but there are too many people, looks like you should come and control.”

The crush on Saturday night killed 156 people, many in their teens and 20s, and injured another 157 as revellers flooded the narrow alleyways of the popular Itaewon district to mark the first virtually unrestricted Halloween festivities in three years.