Itaewon Stampede Victims Are Mostly Women And Young People, Officials Say

In the early hours of Sunday, as news about the tragedy reached them, families rushed to a nearby community center hoping to hear about their loved ones.

A couple who took a train to Seoul from Daejeon that morning told JoongAng Daily that their daughter’s friends called to tell them that they saw her lying on the street and later being carried away.

“The last message I got from our daughter was, ‘Dad, I’m going to Seoul for the first time in a long time.’ She is 20 years old this year. I just hope she is alive,” the father told JoongAng Daily.

It’s unclear what caused the crowd surge. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who went to Itaewon to assess the scene Sunday, has called for an investigation.

Nuhyil Ahammed, 32, told the BBC that he was in the crowd and there was nothing anyone could do to escape or help others.

“I couldn’t sleep last night,” he told the BBC on Sunday. “I can still see people dying in front of me.”