Lankan among 151 killed in South Korea Halloween festive stampede

A Sri Lankan youth was among 151 persons who died in South Korea due to a stampede during a Halloween celebration on Saturday night, officials said. The Sri Lankan was identified as a 27 year old youth resident of Kandy.

He was identified as Mohamed Jinath, a resident from Udathalawinna.

He had been employed there for two years and returned to Sri Lanka recently before going back for employment two months back.

There was no immediate confirmation whether there were Sri Lankans among 82 injured. Among 19 foreigners killed were those from the US, Norway, China and Uzbekistan.

CNN reported that it was South Korea’s first big Halloween celebration since the end of Covid restrictions turned to tragedy on Saturday night when at least 151 people, mostly teenagers and young adults, died as partygoers surged through a narrow alley in a popular nightlife district in Seoul, officials said.

Authorities are still investigating what caused the incident, but Choi Seong-bum, chief of the Yongsan-gu Fire Department, said it was a “presumed stampede” and that many people fell, injuring at least 82.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol convened an emergency meeting in the early hours of Sunday, and later visited the scene to receive briefings from emergency officials.