President Yoon Declares Nat'l Mourning Period For Itaewon Tragedy
On October 30 KST, the morning following the incident, President Yoon Seok Yeol held a press conference at the Yongsan Presidential Office, where he announced an emergency public discourse related to the Itaewon tragedy and declared a period of national mourning – starting that day and continuing until November 5.
In response, the entertainment industry has begun canceling or postponing various programs and events. Among canceled programming, SBS has canceled today's episodes of 'Inkigayo,' 'Animal Farm,' and 'Running Man,' tvN has canceled episodes of 'Comedy Big League' and 'The Game Caterers 2,' KBS has canceled '1 Night, 2 Days' and 'Boss in the Mirror,' and MBC has canceled today's episode of 'King of Masked Singer.'
Multiple music events, including the 'Halloween Strike Music Festival 2022' and 'Busan One Asia Festival 2022,' have also been canceled. Organized Halloween festivities have also been canceled at amusement park Everland as well as popular Halloween celebration districts like Hongdae.
Meanwhile, as previously reported, over 100,000 individuals gathered in the Itaewon neighborhood on October 29 to celebrate Halloween. Due to a suspected crowd surge, over a hundredpeople were reported to have suffered from cardiac arrest. Footage ofinjured individuals receiving CPR circulated around social media.
As of 9:30 AM on October 30, 151 deaths and 82 injuries have been confirmed.
Hundreds of people have been critically injured in Itaewon.
According to the emergency fire officials, the accident occurred around 10:15 PM KST, just before the police received reports that about 20 people have fainted due to a crowd surge.
Authorities are still looking into the exact origins and the cause of this accident. Stay tuned for updates.
Source: Allkpop