halloween killed 153 people South Korea

 

What we will discuss 

According to local authorities, a crowd surge at crowded Halloween celebrations in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, resulted in at least 153 deaths and over 100 further injuries. 

There are at least 26 foreign nationals killed, including two US citizens. The victims are from their country, according to more than a dozen embassies throughout the world. 

The crush happened in Itaewon, a popular nightlife area. Although the reason for the surge is unknown, witnesses report that partygoers were crammed closely together in the small streets. 

Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of South Korea, has proclaimed a day of national mourning.

These are the telltale indications of an approaching dangerously packed crowd.

It may be overly crowded if you're in a group and people are bumping into each other. 

That's according to G. Keith Still, who also serves as the director of GKStill International, a consultancy that instructs event planners on how to recognize risk and is a visiting professor of crowd science at the University of Suffolk. 

Such occurrences have resulted in numerous fatalities and injuries, such as the apparent crowd surge at crowded Halloween celebrations in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and the catastrophe at Houston's Astroworld Festival in November 2021.

Still said organizers can assist minimize crowd-crushing accidents by monitoring a crowd's density in real-time and controlling the flow of people into a location. Still has been researching the dynamics of crowd behavior and safety for more than 30 years. 

The number of persons per square meter, or roughly one square yard, is a measure of population density. Younger, smaller individuals take up less space than older, heavier people, but once you get to five people per square meter, Still added, things start to feel uncomfortable, and anything more crowded can become dangerous. 

When bodies are in close proximity, Still explained, "that great energy and density can give rise to these surges and mob collapses."

People swaying wildly, or what Still dubbed the "field of wheat effect," is one indication that a crowd has grown too crowded. He claimed that a video of an Oasis event from Manchester, England, in 2005, right before a significant surge rippled through the audience toward the stage, provides an illustration. 

According to Still, the key to averting a catastrophe is for organizers to keep an eye on the density and, if it begins to rise, to reduce or halt the flow of people into the region. Once the situation has gotten too crowded, he claimed, it's far more difficult to relieve it.

Still advised performers to stop and ask people to move back if a space becomes overcrowded. A$AP Rocky and Linkin Park are just two artists who have done that over the years. 

When in a crowd, Still advised keeping an eye out for locations that are likely to get the most congested and leaving the group if you don't have enough personal space.