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An Australian vacationer has described how his Sydney travel companion was crushed during the horrific Halloween stampede that claimed at least 153 lives on the streets of Seoul, South Korea.
Nathan Taverniti said he is now acting as guardian of the dead woman’s body, which was 12 days before her 24th birthday.
Two more of his Australian friends in the group of four who went out to enjoy the Halloween celebrations in the central district of Itaewon also became involved in the disaster, with one sill in intensive care.
The horror unfolded on Saturday night when a sea of mostly young people became trapped in a crowd believed to have been sparked by revelers who flocked to see a local celebrity nearby.
Mr Taverniti said he tried to get his friend out of the suffocating chaos but was unsuccessful.
“I was there when she said she couldn’t breathe and I grabbed one of my friend’s hands,” he said in a TikTok post.
“There was no stampede, it was a slow and painful crush.”
Nathan Taverniti, who was on vacation in Seoul, saw his traveling companion from Sydney crushed to death in the Halloween disaster on Saturday night.
Rescuers urgently try to free those in need of medical care from the crowd on Saturday night
He previously told a South Korean newspaper, “All I could see was a wall of people…it was impossible (to save her).”
He later saw her being taken away on a stretcher, but could not find her.
Taverniti said he was making the video after he had just arrived at his accommodation and found his friend’s body, which he did only with the help of some “good-hearted reporters” from the US ABC network.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed that an Australian has been killed in the tragedy, which also killed 18 other foreigners.
“The Australian government extends its condolences to the family and others affected by this tragic incident,” he said.
“We ask to respect the privacy of the family at this difficult time.”
Consular officials liaised with the deceased woman’s family in Australia and assisted “a number of other Australians who attended the event.”
Mr Taverniti dressed up with four friends from Australia to join the Halloween celebrations in Seoul
Taverniti man responds as he searches for his friend’s name on the missing persons list at a community service after a stampede during Halloween festivities in Seoul, South Korea, October 30, 2022
Olivia Jacovic, a 27-year-old Western Australian living in Seoul, told Channel Nine how she and her friends narrowly escaped the deadly crush after taking 40 minutes to get out of the subway stop at the location.
“It was really hard, I had bruises on my arms from trying to maneuver, but luckily we were on the sidelines and we were standing on this brick wall and we could look up,” she said.
“It was just shoulder to shoulder. People couldn’t breathe. The shorter people were trying to look up into the sky to get some air.”
Ms. Jacovic said she had to fight hard to free herself from the onrushing crowd.
“I just wanted to get out of there… I don’t care if my clothes were torn,” she said.
Taverniti blamed the police’s lack of planning and preparedness for the disaster.
“I saw people filming, singing and laughing as my friends died, along with many other people,” he said.
“I was there to pull people out because there weren’t enough police officers and nobody did anything to stop the crowd.
“We yelled and said ‘you have to turn around, you have to go back, people are dying’, but no one listened.
“I waited 30 minutes for the police to arrive where I was. It took more than an hour for more police to arrive and even longer for emergency services.’
Olivia Jacovic told Channel Nine how she narrowly escaped the crush that claimed the lives of 153 people in Seoul
Those caught falling in love were left shocked, checking their phones to contact missing loved ones or hugging each other
He confirmed other reports that CPR was administered by volunteers.
“There were people on the floor being given CPR, not by health professionals, but by random people, whoever,” said Mr Taverniti.
‘I am sad. I’m devastated by this situation that could have been so easily avoided, but no one would listen.’
Sydney woman Julia Cho, one of four girlfriends with Mr Taverniti, has also shared her experience on TikTok.
Ms. Cho said her sister was in intensive care while the other friend had lost her life.
She also delivered a scathing assessment from police and other services.
The incident on Saturday night led to 140 ambulances being deployed to help treat and evacuate the injured
“The local authorities were not ready and left innocent people helpless, despite the fact that they knew there was an inordinate amount of people on the streets with nowhere to go,” she said.
“This happened very early in the night. People suffocated, fell over each other and were crushed.’
“The leaders and authorities are solely responsible and have abandoned their people.”
Revelers dressed in Halloween costumes leave the scene after a crush killed at least 146 people in Seoul
Seoul emergency services were overwhelmed by the deadly crush among a 100,000-strong crowd there to attend the city’s 2022 Halloween festival.
It was the first time the festival had been held in full since Covid, and the crush took place shortly after 10pm local time (8pm EADT).
Officials confirmed that dozens of people went into cardiac arrest and the death toll is expected to continue to rise. An undisclosed number are in critical condition in hospital.
Photos of the scene showed at least 25 bodies lying on the ground in the streets of Seoul, hidden by yellow blankets. A separate row of bodies covered in blue blankets was also photographed.
While the full magnitude of the tragedy was still realizing, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said Sunday morning that the deadly stampede “shouldn’t have happened.”
An exhausted young woman is carried off the stage to safety after getting caught up in the nighttime events
“A tragedy and disaster has occurred in central Seoul that should not have happened,” Yoon said in a national speech, promising to “examine the incident thoroughly” and ensure it could never happen again.
According to local aid workers, many of the victims were women in their 20s, and most were in their teens or early 20s.
Due to the high number of fatalities, a makeshift morgue was set up in an adjacent building.
Officials added that people were believed to have been crushed after a large crowd began to emerge in a narrow alley near Hamilton Hotel, a major party venue in Seoul, when they heard rumors that a celebrity was nearby.
Dozens of people were resuscitated on the streets of Itaewon, while many others were taken to nearby hospitals.
A witness described the height of the crush: ‘People lay on top of each other like a tomb. Some gradually lost consciousness, while others looked dead at the time.’
Photos and videos on social media show horrific scenes of panic in the wake of the crush, and people’s desperate attempts to escape the tragedy of the building.
Parts of costumes were scattered around the scene of the fatal crush hours after it happened as police began investigating the cause
One particularly disturbing video showed dozens of people struggling to breathe and stay on their feet in the crowd as rescuers tried to free the people most in need of medical attention from the crowd.
More than 1,700 first responders were deployed from across South Korea to respond to one of the deadliest crowds in recent history.
More images looking out over the street showed dozens of rescuers desperately working to give CPR to victims lying in the street.
Hundreds of police officers had been deployed to the area before Saturday night in anticipation of large crowds, but they reportedly struggled to maintain control in the minutes before the tragedy unfolded.