starting to get a better picture of what happened. it is a very narrow here and thousands of people were packed into that space. it also has a wide asleep heel up they were reports people slept and pushed people down the alleyway. we know the area was far too overcrowded. this is such a popular area, overcrowded. this is such a populararea, seoul, it is overcrowded. this is such a popular area, seoul, it is when people love to go on the weekend, popularwith people love to go on the weekend, popular with the locals and tourists and halloween is one of the busiest nights of the year here. i was speaking to people last night saying they were planning to avoid this area because they knew how busy it was going to be so these crowds were expected. i am sure all this will come out in the post mortem but what people are dealing with here is trying to
100,000 had come tonight. there were so many people to the point we were being crushed on the pavement, to the point where we had to spill onto the road where there were cars. no one really understood what was going on. but there were already several police cars at the scene in front of itaewon station, and police standing on top of their police cars, desperately trying to tell people to leave the area as soon as possible. hundreds of ambulances and fire engines lined the streets. desperate people alongside emergency workers, trying to perform cpr. and there will likely be more, as the injured are treated in hospital. something has gone horrifically wrong here in seoul tonight. working out what is an important next step. but tonight, this city is numb, still trying to track
secretary. and a new zulu king has been crowned in south africa in the first such ceremony since apartheid. hello, welcome to the programme. we begin in east asia. almost 150 people have died, and dozens of others have been injured in a crush in the south korean capital, seoul. huge crowds had jammed into the narrow streets of the itaewon district to celebrate halloween. the area is known for its busy nightlife. a fire service spokesman said that most of those who died were in their teens or early 20s. earlier on social media, people had spoken of the streets being so busy, that they felt unsafe. 0ur seoul correspondent, jean mackenzie, has this report. and a warning you may find
lot of the bars are off the main street, up the hill in these tiny little alleys, and clearly, they were too packed and clearly something triggered and clearly something triggered a stampede with people trying to get through these tiny passageways. but the exact cause of it, what got people running was not clear. it was certainly too crowded and i was on the streets in several parts of seoul and notjust itaewon but other areas as well where it was jammed with people celebrate halloween. since the officials now celebrate halloween. since the officials now say celebrate halloween. since the officials now say they - celebrate halloween. since the officials now say they have - officials now say they have launched an investigation, is that right? that right? yes, that s right. i saw police that right? yes, that s right. i saw police on that right? yes, that s right. i saw police on the - that right? yes, that s right. i saw police on the scene - that right? yes, that s right. i i s
harrowing scenes seoul from overnight. we rejoined now from seoul by freelance journalist, raphael rashid. thank you for talking to us on bbc access. you were caught up at the centre of this. centre of this. what was it like? it was chaotic centre of this. what was it like? it was chaotic but centre of this. what was it like? it was chaotic but i centre of this. what was it like? it was chaotic but i say centre of this. what was it like? it was chaotic but i say chaotic i centre of this. what was it like? it was chaotic but i say chaotic in i centre of this. what was it like? it | was chaotic but i say chaotic in the sense i did not see the actual stampede, it was chaotic in the sense there were just tens of thousands of people coming from all different corners, coming here to party for the halloween celebrations. they were so many people, to the point people were spilling onto the roads, with cars, and then towards 1030 in the evening, the sirens started going