South Korean authorities have received at least 3,580 missing person reports as of 12 p.m. local time on Sunday (11 p. m. ET Saturday), following a crush at Halloween festivities in Seoul that killed at least 151 people.
The human crush at Itaewon was “not a problem that could have been solved in advance,” South Korea’s Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min said on Sunday.
Nineteen foreign nationals are among the dead. The victims include people from Iran, Norway, China and Uzbekistan.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it had set up a situation room for the incident at a nearby community center and was receiving reports through visits and phone calls.
It was the first outdoor no-mask Halloween event since the pandemic.
The accident occurred as huge crowds gathered in a popular nightlife area to celebrate Halloween.
“The area is still chaotic so we are still trying to figure out the exact number of people injured,” Moon Hyun-joo, an official at the National Fire Agency told Reuters news agency.
Foreigner nationals are reported to be among the many transferred to nearby hospitals.
