SM Entertainment decided to cancel its 2022 Halloween Party after the huge lethal stampede accident that happened in Itaewon Halloween Festival. Check out the following details for the complete story.
*THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT THAT MAY BE DISTURBING FOR SOME READERS. PROCEED WITH CAUTION!*
SM Halloween Party 2022 Canceled After Lethal Stampede Accident in Itaewon Halloween Festival
On October 30, SM Entertainment announced the cancellation of its 2022 Halloween Party. Despite the high anticipation for the first SMTOWN WONDERLAND 2022 first live streaming this year, the agency decided to cancel the entire party in the wake of the lethal accident happening in the Itaewon Halloween festival last night.
“We inform you that the live broadcast of the ‘SMTOWN WONDERLAND 2022’ has been canceled.
Due to the cancellation, there will be no live stream of the red carpet either. We ask for fans’ understanding.”
SM Entertainment.
Tragic Stampede Accident in Itaewon Halloween Festival – What Happened?
For the first time since the pandemic, a Halloween festival occurred in Itaewon, allowing participants to gather with no masks. Unfortunately, due to the high excitement for the event, the crowds pouring near Seoul Subway Line 6, Itaewon, were so massive that it turned into a fatal tragedy.
According to media reports on October 29, an estimated 100,000 people gathered around Itaewon, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. It was the first Halloween festival after South Korea lifted its COVID-19 and social distancing restrictions. However, because of the high excitement, people gathering in the crowd began moving with no control, pushing each other from all directions in what seemed to be an extremely narrow alley.
As a result, the people became increasingly agitated, crushing each other’s bodies, causing them to faint. Then, this crowded Itaewon Halloween festival turns into a lethal tragic accident.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT – At least 149 people, mostly teenagers and young adults in their 20s, were killed in South Korea when a crowd celebrating Halloween surged into an alley in a night-life area of Seoul https://t.co/ZBB3cKhxO5 pic.twitter.com/evlVibGuUw
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 29, 2022
At 10.40 PM, police responded to reports of 20 people fainting with cardiac arrest. Police and fire department were dispatched immediately to the scene and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation as well as first aid measures on the victims while transporting the others to the hospitals.
According to a witness, too many people gathered in the narrow alley to the extent that they couldn’t even walk properly. People began screaming everywhere, and just like that, the Itaewon Halloween festival turned into a fatal stampede accident.
Footage shows the moment when people were being crushed by the weight of other people in Itaweon, South Korea in connection to a Halloween party. #Itaewon #이태원 #이태원사고 #압사사고 #SouthKorea #Seoul #HalloweenEnds #Halloween pic.twitter.com/j9uJAtgZeA
— Siraj Noorani (@sirajnoorani) October 29, 2022
149 Killed, 76 Injured, 270 Missing Person Reports, But More Are Still Partying After Lethal Accident Happened
Due to the severity of the stampede accident, Yonhap News reported 149 death tolls and 76 injured this morning. Not only that, but the Seoul Metropolitan Government had also received approximately 270 missing person reports.
ℹ️🇰🇷South Korea: Itaewon’s ‘Halloween crowd’ suffered a massive crushing disaster. 149 deaths: The fire department said that from about 10:20 pm on the 29th, a rescue scene was received one after another from the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon, who complained of breathing difficulties pic.twitter.com/lRZYNFt9BH
— 🌐World News 24 🌍🌎🌏 (@DailyWorld24) October 30, 2022
What is more tragic about the incident is not only most of these victims are young people in their 20s, but the remaining participants kept on partying even after the stampede accident happened.
Korean media further reported that the fire department had requested a suspension of the Itaewon Halloween festival at 11.19 PM after the stampede accident happened. However, the participants continued the party until October 30 in the morning.
The remaining crowds were still busy taking pictures in their Halloween costumes around 2 AM on the 30th. And most of them were seen doing it near the alley where the Itaewon Halloween festival stampede accident happened.
Tragically, these remaining crowds were still so full that they blocked an ambulance trying to get to the accident scene.
이태원 구급차 옆에서 섹스온더비치 떼창 pic.twitter.com/RpsAwZ49kx
— 알 (@dkfwjdvkyrk) October 29, 2022
South Korea is mourning after the lethal stampede accident at the Itaewon Halloween festival. That is why SM Entertainment canceled the entire 2022 Halloween party.
Finally, the whole team of Kpoppost writers offers our deepest condolences to the friends and families of the victims. We also pray that all the victims of the Itaewon Halloween accident will rest in heavenly peace.
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Many schedules are canceled or postponed 😭
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