On October 29, countless people lost their lives in a stampede at Itaewon, South Korea during a Halloween party. Actor Yoon Hong-bin took to Instagram to share what happened during the disaster when he and his girlfriend was in the area on that fateful night.
He was with his girlfriend at the bar and he shared in a now-deleted post:
“I went outside to smoke, and I saw people getting carried down [the street]. More and more people were being carried out, and because they couldn’t carry them in ambulances anymore, they began putting people down in the alley and conducting CPR,” the actor wrote, as reported by Korean media.
Yoon, 28, who acted in films such as Time Renegades and I Order You, then sprung into action and helped out.
“For over 20 minutes, I performed CPR on the victims,” he said, adding that his girlfriend massaged their arms and legs.
“We tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. We were crying and praying for the victims to regain consciousness and dozens of people were performing CPR on the victims in the alley.
“You could hear all of us begging for them to open their eyes. From what I know, only one victim from the alley where I was eventually regained consciousness. I was not able to save the person I was helping either,” he said.
Yoon added that the tragedy could’ve been prevented if the police were on the streets instead of the roadside.
“I know the police also had a hard time and did their best, but I think the police were deployed to the wrong places and that failed to prevent the disaster,” he said.
The narrow streets of Itaewon were crowded on Saturday as party-goers gathered to celebrate Halloween. It was hectic when tons of people squeezed into one particularly narrow alley which was already crowded.
Reuters reported that the death toll had risen to 154, with 149 injured, 33 of them in serious condition.
In an Instagram post, Yoon said he observed police officers were stationed at the main boulevard in Itaewon, but not at the World Food Street where the deadly crush occurred.
Yoon urged authorities to evaluate the root cause of the incident to prevent such tragedy does not occur again.
The National Police Agency’s Public Order Management Bureau chief Hong Ki-hyun has since admitted the police did not “expect that large-scale casualties would occur” in Itaewon.
“It was foreseen that a large number of people would gather there. But we didn’t expect that large-scale casualties would occur due to the gathering of many people,” he said according to Yonhap News Agency. “I was told that police officers on the scene didn’t detect a sudden surge in the crowd.”
While Hong did not address whether police officers were deployed ineffectively, as Yoon and other commentators have claimed, he did say that most officers on-site had been focused on “cracking down on illegalities and crimes and managing road traffic”.
South Korea’s entertainment industry has joined the rest of the country in a national period of mourning that lasts till November 5. Events and concerts have been called off, while music releases and comebacks have been indefinitely postponed.
Among the 154 people reported dead from the crowd crush was 24-year-old actor and former Produce 101 contestant Lee Ji-han. “Please send a warm farewell to [Lee], who left us too soon,” wrote his agency 935 Entertainment in an official statement. “We will also remember Lee, who shone beautifully with his passion for acting.”
Artist creates an adorable-looking panda in a blanket with rice and eggs. Watch