The deadliest crowd crush in South Korean history, killing 159 people during Halloween festivities in Seoul's Itaewon district.
Key Facts
- Deaths
- 159 people
- Injuries
- 196 people
- Foreign nationals killed
- 27 people
- Date of incident
- 29 October 2022, ~22:20 local time
- Investigation concluded
- 13 January 2023
- Prior comparable disaster
- MV Sewol sinking, 2014
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
A special police task force concluded that inadequate preparation by police and government authorities was the primary cause of the crush. Multiple prior warnings about crowd safety had been ignored, leaving no sufficient crowd management measures in place for the large Halloween gathering in the narrow streets of Itaewon.
On 29 October 2022 at approximately 22:20, a crowd surge overwhelmed the densely packed Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul during Halloween celebrations. The crush killed 159 people, including 27 foreign nationals, and injured 196 others, making it the deadliest crowd disaster in South Korean history and the worst mass-casualty event in Seoul since the 1995 Sampoong Department Store collapse.
In the aftermath, the South Korean government and police faced widespread public criticism and protests, with demonstrators calling for President Yoon Suk Yeol's resignation. Although the president initially acknowledged partial responsibility, he later retracted that acknowledgment. A special task force investigation formally attributed the disaster to governmental and police failures, intensifying political controversy surrounding the administration.