Second Australian Victim in Seoul’s Halloween Stampede Dies

The body of a victim of a Halloween crush, which left at least 120 people dead, is transported on a stretcher in the district of Itaewon in Seoul on Oct. 30, 2022. JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images

The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that a second Australian has died in the Halloween crowd crush in South Korea two weeks after the fateful night.

The young woman, who was believed to have been in critical condition before passing away, brings the total death toll of the Seoul stampede to 156.

“We send our condolences to the family,” a DFAT spokesperson told 7News on Tuesday.

“Owing to our privacy obligations, we are unable to provide further comment.”

The first Australian victim that died in the crowd crush at the party district Itaewon is 23-year-old Sydney woman Grace Rached, who died 12 days shy of her 24th birthday.

The Halloween celebration in South Korea turned lethal when huge crowds at the event surged into a narrow alley in a nightclub area that is popular among young people. Authorities confirmed most of the victims were teenagers and young adults.

One of Rached’s travel mates, Nathan Taverniti, said in a recent TikTok video that he saw a woman falling down next to him, so he and others were trying to help them up, which “was enough to create a state of chaos because there were no officials around.”

“Halloween is an extremely popular event; the government officials 100 percent knew that this event was taking place and how many people were attending,” he said.

“The situation was not caused by drunk people or excessive pushing or whatever gossip you’re hearing on the internet.”

He also criticised the authority for not having “proper precautions in place in case something happens.”

It was the first Halloween event in Seoul in three years after the country lifted COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing.

National Period of Mourning Declared in South Korea

“Our sincere condolences for all affected by this terrible tragedy,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a post on Twitter on Sunday before news broke of the Australian’s death.

Some witnesses said the crowd had become increasingly unruly as the night wore on.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has declared a period of national mourning.

The disaster is among the country’s deadliest since a 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 people, mainly high school students.

The 26 foreign victims were from the United States, Iran, China, Russia, Japan, France, Austria, Australia, Norway, Vietnam, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Sri Lanka, Yonhap News Agency reported.

AAP contributed to this article.