너무 화나 대체 이게 뭐야

너무 참담하고 화가 난다.

퇴근하자마자 속보라고 구독하고 있는 뉴욕 타임스 호외가 날아왔다.

​

남의 나라 문화가 어느 날부터 이렇게 국가적인 참사를 발생하게 되었는지

도무지 핼러윈의 본고장 미국에서 평생을 살고 있는 핼러윈 본고장 시민으로서

어떤 방법으로도 이해가 난망하다 못해 답이 없다.

​

촌각을 다투며 3명의 기자가 타전하는 뉴스를 아래와 같이 호외로 발행해

구독자들에게 뉴스를 전하고 있다. 생때같은 다 키워놓은 자식들이 입으로

코로 압사당해 피를 쏟고 죽었으니 이보다 더한 비극이 어데 있을까 싶다.

​

여기가 사우디아라비아 메카 순례지도 아니고 왜 이런 비국이 발생하여야만

하는지 어이없다. 오래전 메카에서도 순례객들이 넘쳐나 이태원에서 발생한

것과 유사한 참담한 압사 비극이 발생했었다.

​

더 어이없는 것은 가족단위로 외출하였다가 간신히 남의 가게 안으로 피해

들어가 살아남은 청년의 이야기였다. 30분이 지나사야 아버지 하고 통화가

되어 서로 생존을 확인하였다는 어이없는 이야기 한국 명절도 아니요 한국

문화도 아닌 남의 나라 문화에 왜 이토록 한국인들이 몰입하여 이런 참극이

발생하나 싶다.

​

어이가 없다.

이해가 첫째로 안 된다. 도대체 핼러윈이 한국인에게 어떤 의미이며 무엇이길래..

참담하다 이렇게 경제가 어려운 때 이런 일로 해외 토픽감으로 한국이 회자되지

않았으면 더 바랄 것이 없겠다.

​

세월호도 아니고 이건 이태원 클래스도 아니고 뭐라 해야 옳을까 참담하다.

살다 살다 처음 듣는 일 핼러윈으로 집단 압사를 당하다니 그것도 핼러윈

본고장도 아닌 전혀 문화와 언어도 다른 대한민국 사우스 코리아란 나라에서...

자고 다시 출근해야 할 시간에 이 추운 가을날에 잠이 다 달아나버렸다.

<사망사고에도 "우리는 논다"...핼러윈 축제날 지옥 같았던 이태원>

이 한국 신문기사 제목을 보면 인간들이 제정신 인가 의심스럽다.

 

이런 일로 아래와 같은 뉴욕 타임스 해외 주요 언론에 한국이 회자되지 않았으면

더도 바랄 것이 없겠다. 화가 나고 참담하고 어이 상실이다. 생때같은 자식들을

사람들의 생명을 어이없는 남의 나 나라 문화 놀이에 짓밟혀 압사하다니 정말 기가

차다 못해 할 말이 생각이 안 난다.

Officials in Seoul said that dozens of people were dead and many others injured after a stampede in the capital city’s popular Itaewon district, where crowds had gathered to celebrate Halloween.CreditCredit...Matej Leskovsek/The New York Times

Updated

Oct. 29, 2022, 3:17 p.m. ET13 minutes ago

13 minutes ago

Choe Sang-Hun

Reporting from Seoul

Here’s what we know about the deadly night in Seoul.

I

The Itaewon district in Seoul filled with emergency workers on Sunday morning.Credit...Jung Yeon-Je/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

SEOUL — At least 146 people were killed and another 150 injured after they were crushed in a large Halloween crowd in Seoul on Saturday night, the city’s fire department said, in one of the deadliest peacetime accidents in South Korea’s recent history.

The crowd surge happened during one of the most raucous celebrations of the year in the nation’s capital, where as many as 100,000 people, local news media said, had clogged the narrow streets of the Itaewon nightlife district Saturday evening for Halloween festivities.

President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered his government to dispatch urgent help and medical assistance to the scene after he was informed of “multiple casualties,” his office said in a statement.

Here’s what to know:

• The incident began at a narrow alleyway, right outside exit 2 of the Itaewon subway station, near a row of bars that included, among others, Oasis Bar & Cafe, Gathering and Ravo. An emotional bystander at the scene who witnessed the event said he saw bodies, limp, on the street. “I wish I hadn’t, but I did,” he said. “It was heartbreaking.”
• Photographs showed citizens, police officers and emergency medical workers performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on people sprawled on the pavement. Live footage on MBC-TV, a local broadcaster, showed firefighters carrying what looked like bodies covered with sheets or towels on stretchers.
• Itaewon developed as a district of bars, nightclubs and shops catering to American soldiers based nearby in the decades after the Korean War. Now, it is one of the most popular neighborhoods in Seoul, known for its nightlife, young patrons, foreign tourists and stylish restaurants.
• Questions immediately surfaced about crowd management and planning at the long-publicized event. Traffic jams and clusters of pedestrians restricted the movements of emergency vehicles both coming and going from the site of the deaths.

Oct. 29, 2022, 3:29 p.m. ET1 minute ago

1 minute ago

John Yoon and Chang Che

Reporting from Seoul

A makeshift disaster management center is set up as rescue efforts continue.

 

A makeshift disaster management center near the Hamilton Hotel in Seoul. Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

SEOUL — As rescue efforts continued in the aftermath of the tragedy in Seoul, the authorities created a small makeshift disaster management center and first aid clinic under several tents in front of Hamilton Hotel, near the site of the deadly crowd surge.

Whiteboards have been set up there with information about the incident being continually updated by the authorities, including the death toll, a list of victims and the hospitals where they were sent. A desk with a clipboard and a pen was dedicated to reporting missing persons.

Some people were covered in space blankets as emergency workers performed first aid. Hundreds of police officers had tight control over access to the area around the booths.

Nearby the makeshift center, rescue workers tended to the injured, performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on dozens of people. Medics with stretchers carted victims to ambulances along the street.

Firefighters equipped with flashlights disappeared into a taped-off alleyway. They would not say what they were investigating.

“The top priority is to evacuate and save the victims. We should take them to urgent medical treatment as quickly as possible,” President Yoon Suk Yeol told his cabinet, according to his office.

Oct. 29, 2022, 3:22 p.m. ET8 minutes ago

8 minutes ago

John Yoon

Reporting from Seoul

Officials set up a makeshift disaster management center and first-aid clinic under several tents in front of the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon. Whiteboards have been set up there with continually updated information about the incident, including the death toll and the hospitals where people have been sent. A desk with a clipboard and a pen was dedicated to lists people reported to be unaccounted for.

 

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

Oct. 29, 2022, 3:13 p.m. ET17 minutes ago

17 minutes ago

Choe Sang-Hun

Reporting from Seoul

The toll has risen to at least 146 dead and 150 more injured at the Halloween event in Itaewon, Choi Seong-beom, a senior official at Seoul’s fire department, said at a news conference in Seoul.

 

Credit...Matej Leskovsek/The New York Times

Oct. 29, 2022, 3:02 p.m. ET28 minutes ago

28 minutes ago

The New York Times

A public safety alert was sent via mobile phone to people in the area, urging them to return home as soon as possible.

Oct. 29, 2022, 2:51 p.m. ET39 minutes ago

39 minutes ago

Paul Mozur

Reporting from Seoul

Emergency vehicles struggled to make their way to and from the site, with roads jammed and pedestrians spilling into traffic. Around 10:45 p.m. one emergency vehicle packed with rescue workers sat in a traffic jam as it tried to make its way to a main road where victims were.

 

Credit...Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters

Oct. 29, 2022, 2:46 p.m. ET43 minutes ago

43 minutes ago

Chang Che

Reporting from Seoul

Medics and police officers, now gathered in the hundreds, say they are waiting to identify and confirm the dead. Officials say they will give a news briefing at 4 a.m. (3 p.m. Eastern time)

Oct. 29, 2022, 2:38 p.m. ET51 minutes ago

51 minutes ago

Choe Sang-Hun

Reporting from Seoul

At least 25 injured people were taken to the hospital while rescuers were performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on them. “The death toll could rise,” said Choi Jae-won, a senior Seoul health official.

 

Credit...Anthony Wallace/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Oct. 29, 2022, 2:32 p.m. ET58 minutes ago

58 minutes ago

John Yoon

Reporting from Seoul

“There were so many people that we couldn’t move,” said Song Su-yeon, 46, who was visiting from Incheon and arrived at Itaewon station an hour after the event. “It looked like I would have died if I had fallen.”

Oct. 29, 2022, 2:20 p.m. ET1 hour ago

1 hour ago

Choe Sang-Hun

Reporting from Seoul

The Itaewon tragedy is the worst peacetime disaster in South Korea since the Sewol ferry sank in 2014, killing more than 300 people.

Oct. 29, 2022, 2:08 p.m. ET1 hour ago

1 hour ago

Chang Che

Reporting from Seoul

A procession of medics with stretchers is moving. Each is carting a body to an ambulance lined up on the street intersecting the main Itaewon road.

 

Credit...Matej Leskovsek/The New York Times

Oct. 29, 2022, 2:04 p.m. ET1 hour ago

1 hour ago

Choe Sang-Hun

Reporting from Seoul

At least 120 people were killed and an additional 100 were injured after they were crushed under a large Halloween crowd in Itaewon, central Seoul, said Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul’s Yongsan fire department. Mr. Choi said that some of the injured could die too. Of those who were confirmed dead, 46 were in hospital, with the rest taken to a nearby gymnasium.

Oct. 29, 2022, 2:02 p.m. ET1 hour ago

1 hour ago

Chang Che

Reporting from Seoul

A wave of firefighters equipped with flashlights arrived and disappeared into the taped-off alleyway. They would not say what they were investigating.

 

Credit...Jung Yeon-Je/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Oct. 29, 2022, 1:54 p.m. ET2 hours ago

2 hours ago

Chang Che

Reporting from Seoul

Four blue-uniformed medics are carting a body on a stretcher on Itaewon Road, right outside the site of the fatal surge.

Oct. 29, 2022, 1:54 p.m. ET2 hours ago

2 hours ago

Choe Sang-Hun

Reporting from Seoul

Itaewon developed as a district of bars, nightclubs and shops catering to American soldiers based nearby in the decades after the Korean War. Now, it is one of the most popular neighborhoods in Seoul, known for its nightlife, young patrons, foreign tourists and stylish restaurants.

 

Credit...Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

Oct. 29, 2022, 1:44 p.m. ET2 hours ago

2 hours ago

Chang Che

Reporting from Seoul

The stampede began at a narrow alleyway, right outside exit 2 of Itaewon station, outside a row of bars that included, among others, Oasis Bar & Cafe, Gathering and Ravo.

 

Credit...Matej Leskovsek/The New York Times

Oct. 29, 2022, 1:44 p.m. ET2 hours ago

2 hours ago

Choe Sang-Hun

Reporting from Seoul

At least 59 people were killed and an additional 150 were injured after they were crushed in a large Halloween crowd in Itaewon, central Seoul, said Choi Seong-beom, the chief of Seoul’s Yongsan fire department. Thirteen of those killed were taken to the hospital, with the rest still at the scene.

Oct. 29, 2022, 1:36 p.m. ET2 hours ago

2 hours ago

Choe Sang-Hun

Reporting from Seoul

“The top priority is to evacuate and save the victims. We should take them to urgent medical treatment as quickly as possible,” President Yoon Suk Yeol told his cabinet, according to his office.

Oct. 29, 2022, 1:29 p.m. ET2 hours ago

2 hours ago

Chang Che

Reporting from Seoul

The crowd has subsided as the police take over. Several bodies covered in yellow sheets were sent off in ambulances. Late-night partygoers, some in Halloween attire, are still working their way home.

 

Credit...Matej Leskovsek/The New York Times

Oct. 29, 2022, 1:28 p.m. ET2 hours ago

2 hours ago

Chang Che

Reporting from Seoul

An emotional bystander at the scene who witnessed the event said he saw bodies, limp, on the street. “I wish I hadn’t, but I did,” he said. “It was heartbreaking.”

Oct. 29, 2022, 1:20 p.m. ET2 hours ago

2 hours ago

Chang Che

Reporting from Seoul

A fleet of ambulances are parked outside an Itaewon venue where the stampede occurred. Trash is spewed all along the empty streets, which are now blocked by a phalanx of yellow-vested police.

 

Credit...Matej Leskovsek/The New York Times

Oct. 29, 2022, 1:20 p.m. ET2 hours ago

2 hours ago

Chang Che

Reporting from Seoul

A health worker near the scene told The New York Times that she administered CPR to 10 people lying in the street.