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‘Somebody is going to die’: How Seoul’s deadly Halloween crush unfolded | CNN

Published

2 years ago

November 5, 2022

‘Somebody is going to die’: How Seoul’s deadly Halloween crush unfolded | CNN

CNN
—

A recent graduate in her first full-time job; a youngster who helped elevate her siblings after their father’s dying; a international trade pupil excited for his first journey to Asia.

Within the seven days since 156 folks have been killed in a Halloween crush within the South Korean capital, the names and tales of those that died have emerged, together with particulars of missed warnings and determined requires assist.

In accordance with police emergency name logs, a number of calls have been made as early as 4 hours earlier than the tragedy unfolded, as the gang in Seoul’s buzzy nightlife district Itaewon turned so packed that partygoers have been unable to maneuver or breathe.

Movies taken over the course of that night time present revelers realizing, at first slowly then in a rush of panic, that what was purported to be a enjoyable night time out was spiraling dangerously uncontrolled.

Police in the end despatched 4 police dispatches to the location that night, however too few and too late to forestall the catastrophe.

Households are mourning the lack of their family members, with most victims of their teenagers and 20s. Amid the grief, anger has grown with calls for for solutions as to how issues may have gone so terribly incorrect.

Right here’s a glance again at how the catastrophe unfolded – and the early hazard indicators that went unheeded.

Halloween in Itaewon isn’t a single occasion held by an organizer – somewhat, it’s a preferred place for younger folks, typically wearing elaborate costumes, to go bar hopping and clubbing.

From the Itaewon subway station, the principle nightlife strip could be accessed through a sloping alleyway lower than 4 meters huge (13 toes), that runs between the brick wall of the Hamilton Resort and a few shops. On weekends, the alley turns into a busy thoroughfare for folks coming and going, giving it a convivial environment the place buddies meet up and social gathering.

By 4 p.m. on October 29, crowds had grow to be “considerably massive,” mentioned Park Chang-ki, a parking attendant who labored throughout the street from the alley the place many of the crush occurred.

By 5 p.m., the alley was so packed it was fully blocked off, based on the proprietor of a restaurant dealing with the alley.

At 6:34 p.m., police obtained an emergency name – the primary of 11 more and more pressing calls that first pleaded for crowd management, then for rescuers.

“That alley doesn’t look secure … It seems like (folks) could be crushed to dying,” the caller mentioned. “I barely escaped, I feel it’s essential management this, there are just too many individuals.”

“Police will come out and verify that out,” the officer responded.

By 7 p.m., folks within the alley have been spilling out onto the adjoining predominant street, mentioned Park, the parking attendant.

In accordance with police logs, the second emergency name got here simply after 8 p.m., with the caller saying folks have been being pushed, falling and getting harm. “It’s chaotic … I feel it must be managed one way or the other,” the caller mentioned.

Comparable warnings, rising extra dire, quickly adopted.

Simply after 8:30 p.m., a caller warned police the state of affairs was “actually severe.” Twenty minutes later, one other caller mentioned it felt like a “madhouse.”

“It’s not a joke. It’s not a prank name,” they mentioned, including: “I urge you.”

Issues quickly escalated between 8 p.m. to 9 p.m, with footage displaying the Itaewon streets – lined with golf equipment and bars blasting music – filled with revelers standing shoulder to shoulder, some pushing ahead in a slow-moving wave.

Crowds aren’t uncommon for Seoul, or for the Itaewon space, which is commonly filled with partygoers on weekends. Some consultants have mentioned this may increasingly have contributed to the catastrophe, with residents unaware of the hazard as a result of they have been used to being in tightly packed crowds.

In a selfie video taken at 8:41 p.m., 22-year-old French trade pupil Anne-Lou Chevalier and her buddies snort in regards to the variety of folks as they wait in the course of an unmoving crowd.

“At first we thought it was humorous,” mentioned Chevalier. “We heard Halloween in Itaewon was wonderful.”

However unease quickly set in. In a video taken simply minutes later, the group’s laughter has taken on a nervous edge as one woman says, “Simply strive to not fall.” One other responds, “I’m scared.” Shortly after, Chevalier says, they started to really feel crushed; she handed out and was evacuated, with a photograph taken at 8:58 p.m. that reveals her being lifted away from the gang by two males.

By 9 p.m., an emergency caller urged police to “make an emergency dispatch now,” saying a “massive accident may happen at any second.”

A number of different callers round this time warned that individuals have been being trampled on, describing the state of affairs as “horrible.”

One caller, at 9:02 p.m., put it extra bluntly: “Anyone goes to die.”

By 9:30 p.m., the streets have been crammed full; some folks reported not even having the ability to exit the close by subway station, with new partygoers nonetheless arriving within the space.

By now, the hazard was obvious. Ian Chang, a 21-year-old college pupil from Florida, arrived in Itaewon round 9:40 p.m., planning to fulfill his buddy Steven Blesi, one other American trade pupil – however the crowds have been so extreme he messaged Blesi at 10:17 p.m., urging him to keep away from the realm.

It’s not clear if his warning ever reached Blesi – one of many two American victims who died that night time, the opposite being 20-year-old Anne Gieske from Kentucky.

Someday earlier than 10 p.m., Emily Farmer, a 27-year-old English trainer in Seoul, escaped right into a bar after being “overwhelmed” by the crowds. Shortly after, she mentioned, rumors started spreading that someone had died and patrons weren’t allowed to go away.

By 10:21 p.m., some started taking determined measures; a photograph reveals a person scaling a wall to flee, cheered on by bystanders unaware of what was occurring.

A man is seen scaling a building to escape the crowd below in Itaewon, Seoul, on October 29.

Minutes later, police started receiving studies of individuals being “buried” in the gang.

“At 10:23 p.m. we obtained greater than 5 studies that individuals fell, and so they may both get harm or die,” a primary responder advised CNN, talking on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to speak to the media.

Authorities rushed to the scene, the place they noticed as much as “10 rows of faces – we couldn’t even see their legs,” mentioned the primary responder. They mentioned staff pulled out the folks within the backside row first – however “after we laid them (on the bottom), most of them have been unconscious.”

The sheer quantity of individuals additionally made it tough for police to achieve those that wanted assist. Video posted to social media confirmed folks performing compressions on different partygoers mendacity on the bottom as they waited for medical consideration.

Sophia Akhiyat, an American physician in Itaewon that night time, was whisked to a aspect avenue after telling an officer she may presumably assist.

“I used to be fully overwhelmed however I began CPR on the primary physique I noticed,” she mentioned. “It was so chaotic as a result of there have been so many victims on the ground, together with foot site visitors and partygoers and music blasting from surrounding eating places and golf equipment that had no thought what was happening.”

Including to the confusion was the truth that most individuals have been in costume that night time – which means some mistook cops for fellow partygoers.

One 20-year-old eyewitness, who requested anonymity as a result of she didn’t really feel snug having her identify revealed, mentioned when an officer tried to direct the crowds, she heard somebody ask: “Is he an actual policeman?”

By 11:46 p.m., South Korea’s Yonhap Information Company had reported that dozens of individuals have been receiving medical help after affected by “cardiac arrest,” citing hearth authorities. Images present the street filled with police automobiles, with officers cordoning off the realm.

At 11:55 p.m., the Seoul metropolitan authorities despatched an emergency alert to residents within the Itaewon space, requesting autos to show away because of “an emergency accident close to Hamilton Resort.”

“Residents, please return residence as quickly as doable,” it learn – which might be repeated in a number of extra alerts within the following hours.

This was greater than 5 hours after the primary emergency name had are available in, with studies of the catastrophe starting to flow into extensively on social media.

Round 12:14 a.m., the nation’s Nationwide Police Company made its first report back to company chief Yoon Hee-keun, based on Yonhap.

President Yoon Suk Yeol dispatched a catastrophe medical help crew to Itaewon, ordering hospitals to organize emergency beds.

By 12:30 a.m., the size of the tragedy was changing into clear, with photographs displaying a line of blue physique luggage on the road, as first responders rushed the wounded onto stretchers and into ambulances.

Simply after 1 a.m., authorities launched the primary dying toll of 59 killed as they labored frantically to switch injured folks to close by hospitals, and our bodies to a number of mortuaries.

Throughout these early hours, the town authorities started receiving a flood of lacking individuals studies, and launched the days-long effort to establish victims.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol holds an emergency meeting in the early hours of October 30.

By 6 a.m. on Sunday morning, as households throughout South Korea woke as much as the information and started the agonizing seek for their family members, the dying toll had risen to 149.

That toll slowly ticked up over the next days as extra folks succumbed to their accidents, reaching the present determine of 156.

Now, the preliminary panic and terror of that night time has remodeled into nationwide devastation and requires accountability.

On Monday, authorities mentioned they’d no protocols in place for coping with huge crowds and not using a particular organizer.

Afterward, the prime minister mentioned the catastrophe revealed South Korea’s “lack of deep institutional information and consideration for crowd administration.”

A mourner pays tribute at a makeshift memorial near the site of the crush in Seoul on October 30.

On Tuesday, the nationwide police chief admitted the police response to the emergency calls had been “insufficient.”

“Via this incident, I really feel deep accountability for public security and we’ll do our greatest to verify such a tragedy as this doesn’t happen once more,” he mentioned, saying a particular investigative crew and promising transparency.

The investigation will embrace inspecting why police solely made 4 dispatches forward of the incident regardless of the excessive variety of calls.

By Wednesday, that investigative unit raided native police stations throughout Seoul, seizing inside studies and paperwork referring to the emergency calls made that night time.

In the meantime, the chief of the Yongsan police station – liable for the district the place Itaewon is positioned – was suspended and changed. The investigation is ongoing.

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Video: Heavy Rains and Wind Wreak Havoc on the West Coast

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November 22, 2024

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Heavy Rains and Wind Wreak Havoc on the West Coast

A series of atmospheric rivers has caused flooding and damage in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California, knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of people.

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How long will Trump’s honeymoon with the stock market last?

Published

4 hours ago

November 22, 2024

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How long will Trump’s honeymoon with the stock market last?

Few were surprised when US stocks jumped after Donald Trump’s decisive victory in the presidential election. Amid widespread assumptions of weeks of uncertainty, a clear result was always likely to prompt an initial relief rally. More unexpected was what has happened since.

The president-elect has nominated a string of hardliners to senior positions, signalling his intent to push ahead with a radical agenda to enact sweeping tariffs and deport millions of illegal immigrants that many economists warn would cause inflation and deficits to spiral upward.

Yet the stock market — the economic barometer most closely watched by the general public, and one often referenced by Trump himself — seems to have shown little sign of concern.

The S&P 500, Wall Street’s benchmark index for large stocks, is still up about 3 per cent since the vote, even after a slight pullback. The main index of small cap stocks is up almost 5 per cent.

The relative cost of borrowing for large companies has also plummeted to multi-decade lows, and speculative assets such as bitcoin have surged.

Under the surface, not every part of the stock market has been so calm. A Citi-created index of stocks that may be vulnerable to government spending cuts, for example, has tumbled 8 per cent since the election, while healthcare stocks have been hit by the nomination of vaccine sceptic Robert Kennedy Jr to head the health department.

The prospect of inflation arising from tariffs and a tighter labour market has also spooked many in the $27tn Treasury market, with some high-profile groups warning about over-exuberance.

But the contrasting signals raise some key questions for traders and policymakers alike: are equity investors setting themselves up for a fall by ignoring high valuations and potential downsides of Trumponomics, or will they be proved right as gloomy economists once again have to walk back their dire prognoses?

“Any time . . . you get to the point where markets are beyond priced to perfection, you have to be concerned about complacency”, says Sonal Desai, chief investment officer at Franklin Templeton Fixed Income.

But, she adds, “the reality is you also need to very actively look for triggers for sell-offs, and right now . . . I think the underlying economy is strong and the policies of the incoming administration are unlikely to move that significantly.”

The bull case was on full display at the Wynn resort in Las Vegas this week, where more than 800 investors, bankers and executives were gathered for Goldman Sachs’ annual conference for “innovative private companies”.

With interest rates now trending downward, capital markets specialists had already been preparing for a recovery in stock market listings and mergers and acquisitions activity, but the election result has poured fuel on the fire.

Walter Lundon, a trader, shows off his pro-Trump T-shirt on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Investors believe Trump will follow through on pledges to cut taxes and regulation © Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

With Republicans controlling both houses of Congress in addition to the White House, investors are assuming that it will be easy for the Trump administration to fulfil promises to slash corporate taxes and scale back regulation. At the same time, more contentious proposals such as the introduction of tariffs were frequently dismissed by attendees as a “negotiating tactic”.

David Solomon, Goldman chief executive, said at the conference: “The market is basically saying they think the new administration will bring [regulation] back to a place where it’s more sensible.”

One hedge fund manager in attendance sums up the atmosphere more bluntly. “There are lots of giddy investors here getting excited about takeout targets,” he says. “M&A is now a real possibility because of the new administration. That’s been the most exciting [element of Trump’s proposals] . . . I think the mood is better than it’s been in the past four years.”

The emphasis on tax and deregulation is clear when looking at which sectors have been the biggest winners in the recent market rally: financial services and energy.

The S&P 500 financials sub-index has jumped almost 8 per cent since the vote, while the energy sub-index is up almost 7 per cent. Energy executives have celebrated the president-elect’s pledges to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and open up federal lands for fracking in pursuit of US “energy dominance”.

The Russell 2000 index, which measures small cap companies, has also risen faster than the S&P thanks to its heavy weighting towards financial stocks, and a belief that smaller domestically focused companies have more to gain from corporate tax cuts.

Chris Shipley, co-chief investment officer at Fort Washington Investment Advisors, which manages about $86bn, says that “we believe the market has acted rationally since the election”, citing the concentration of gains in areas that could benefit from trends such as deregulation and M&A.

Even policies that most mainstream economists think would have a negative effect overall — like a sharp increase in tariffs — could ironically boost the relative appeal of US stocks by hitting other countries even harder.

The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 index, for example, has slipped since the election as investors bet the export-dependent region will be heavily hit by any increase in trade tensions. At the same time, the euro has dipped to a two-year low against the dollar.

“The ‘America First’ policy, not surprisingly, will be good for the US versus the rest of the world,” says Kay Herr, US chief investment officer for JPMorgan Asset Management’s global fixed income, currency and commodities team.

The worry among economists and many bond investors, however, is that Trump’s policies could create broader economic problems that would eventually be hard for the stock market to ignore.

Some of Trump’s policies, such as corporate tax cuts, could boost domestic growth. But with the economy already in a surprisingly robust state despite years of worries about a potential recession, some like former IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard fear an “overheating” that would lead to a resurgence in inflation and a subsequent slowdown.

A shale gas well drilling site in Pennsylvania. The incoming Trump administration is expected to open up federal lands for fracking in pursuit of US ‘energy dominance’ © Keith Srakocic/AP

Demand-driven inflation could be exacerbated by supply-side pressures if Trump follows through with some of his more sweeping policy pledges.

On the campaign trail, Trump proposed a baseline 10 per cent import tariff on all goods made outside the US, and 60 per cent if they are made in China. Economists generally agree that the cost of tariffs falls substantially on the shoulders of consumers in the country enacting them. Walmart, the largest retailer in the US, warned this week it might have to raise prices if tariffs are introduced.

Deporting millions of undocumented immigrants, meanwhile, would remove a huge source of labour from the US workforce, driving up wages and reducing the capacity of US companies to supply goods and services.

Economists at Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank both predicted this week that Trump’s policies would drag on GDP growth by 2026, and make it harder for the Federal Reserve to bring inflation back to its 2 per cent target.

Tom Barkin, president of the Richmond Fed and a voting member on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, says he understands concerns among the business community about tariffs reigniting inflation, and says the US was “somewhat more vulnerable to cost shocks” than in the past.

But some investors believe the risks to be minimal. “In our view, the inflationary concerns . . . regarding tariffs are overblown,” says Shipley of Fort Washington.

Fed policymakers have been quick to stress that they will not prejudge any potential policies before they have been officially announced, but bond investors have already scaled back their forecasts for how much the central bank will be able to cut interest rates over the next year.

Interest rate futures are now pricing in a fall in Fed rates to roughly 4 per cent by the end of 2025, from the current level of 4.5-4.75 per cent. In September, investors were betting they would fall below 3 per cent by then.

Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which rises when prices fall, is up about 0.8 percentage points since mid-September to 4.4 per cent. As a consequence, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage is also ticking upward, to near 7 per cent.

“The bond market has been very focused on deficits and fiscal expansion, and the equity market has been focused, it seems, on deregulation and the growth aspect,” says JPMorgan’s Herr. But “at some point, a higher [Treasury yield] is problematic to equities”.

In part, that is because higher bond yields represent an alternative source of attractive returns at much lower risk than stocks. But the more important impact could come from the warning signal a further increase in yields would represent.

The rise in yields is being driven by concerns both about inflation and also higher government debt levels, says Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco. “2024 marks the first year in which the US spends more to service its debt than it spends on its entire defence budget. And that’s not sustainable in my opinion over the longer term, and so we have to worry about the potential for a mini Liz Truss moment.”

Former UK prime minister Truss’s attempt to introduce billions of pounds of unfunded tax cuts and increased borrowing in 2022 caused a massive sell-off in British government debt that spilled into currency and equity markets.

Demonstrators in New York protests against Trump’s immigration proposals — Demonstrators in New York protest against Trump’s immigration proposals. His plans to deport millions of undocumented immigrants would remove a large chunk from the US workforce © Michael Nigro/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

The structure and scale of the US Treasury market makes this sort of “bond vigilantism” less likely, strategists and investors stress, but many institutions have begun paying more attention to the possibility.

“Over the next two to four years, do I think that there’s a very serious risk of bond vigilantes coming back? Absolutely. And that’s entirely based on what the multiyear plan will be, and the impact which comes out of it,” says Franklin Templeton’s Desai.

Trump and his advisers have dismissed concerns about their economic agenda, arguing that policies such as encouraging the domestic energy sector will help keep inflation low and growth high.

Even if they do not, several investors in Las Vegas this week suggested that the president-elect’s personal preoccupation with the stock market would help restrain him from the most potentially damaging policies.

“I think Trump and all his donors measure their success and happiness around where the US stock market is,” says the hedge fund manager. “It’s one reason why I’m pretty bullish despite the market being where it is.”

Economists have also consistently underestimated the resilience of the US economy in recent years. The combination of Trump’s attentiveness and economists’ poor past forecasting means even sceptical investors are wary of betting against the US market.

“There are risks out there,” says Colin Graham, head of multi-asset strategies at Robeco. “If some of the more extreme policies that were talked about during the campaign get implemented, our core view for next year is going to be wrong.

“But what is our biggest risk here? Missing out on the upside. The momentum is very strong.”

Data visualisation by Keith Fray and Chris Giles

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Can Matt Gaetz return to Congress? He says he won’t.

Published

4 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Press Room

Can Matt Gaetz return to Congress? He says he won’t.

Gaetz not returning to Congress

Gaetz on not returning to Congress after dropping out of Trump attorney general consideration

02:05

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida says he doesn’t intend to return to Congress in January, after resigning from his seat and withdrawing from consideration as U.S. attorney general.

Gaetz announced his withdrawal Thursday, citing the distraction his impending nomination was causing, and President-elect Donald Trump soon afterward said former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi would be his new pick for the job. But Gaetz won reelection to his U.S. House seat earlier this month, so there were some questions about whether he was considering a return to Congress in January.

But Gaetz told conservative personality Charlie Kirk on Friday that he doesn’t intend to go back to Congress, though he vowed to continue to fight for Trump and do “whatever he asks of me.”

“I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch,” Gaetz told Kirk. “I do not intend to join the 119th Congress. … Charlie, I’ve been in an elected office for 14 years. I first got elected to the state house when I was 26 years old, and I’m 42 now, and I’ve got some other goals in life that I’m eager to pursue with my wife and my family, and so I’m going to be fighting for President Trump. I’m going to be doing whatever he asks of me, as I always have. But I think that eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress.”

But it may not be the end of his political career. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, first elected in 2018, will not be running again in 2026, since he’s limited by law to two terms as the state’s chief executive.

Gaetz stepped down from Congress as the House Ethics Committee was weighing whether to release the report from its yearslong investigation into sexual misconduct and illegal drug use allegations. The committee lacked sufficient votes to release the report earlier this week but will, according to Democratic Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, reconvene on Dec. 5 to “further consider” the matter.