154 people were pronounced dead in the crowd Saturday October 29, 2022 in Seoul, South Korea. The vast majority killed were in their 20s. Many went all out in their costumes, it being the first Halloween fully since the pandemic. Five students in high school and one in middle were killed that night. “Kim Geun-jin, a division commander for the Seoul police, said that little could be reported about the cause of the disaster as of 4 a.m. on Sunday because “identifying the victims is our top priority.” He added: “Our forensic teams are focused on identifying victims and collecting evidence from the site.” Via NYT

According to NYT, “Adding to the tragedy, many of the victims were contemporaries of the 250 high school sophomores killed in 2014’s Sewol Ferry disaster, the last tragedy of this magnitude in South Korea. They would have been in their early 20s by now.”

A girl from Hongseong , Park Ga-young, 19, “had also been working part time to save up for her dream of studying fashion design in Canada.” Via NYT. Park was a college student, her trip to Seoul was a “thrilling getaway to the big city.” She’d last spoken to her mother, Chi Seon-mi, about preparations for an bigger adventure, (studying abroad, Canada). Same with Shin Ae-Jin, 24, out of college and into her first job. NYT, “Ms. Shin was cheerful and gregarious and was always surrounded by a lot of friends, as well as being a lover of photography and travel, her father said. On Saturday, just hours after she had met her parents for coffee, she went out with her new colleagues.”

Condolences were sent to South Korea, including the United States President, Joseph R. Biden. “The alliance between our two countries has never been more vibrant or more vital — and the ties between our people are stronger than ever,”