Shocked family members have collected bodies, as parents search for children in Seoul

A country is seeking answers after at least 153 people were crushed to death when a crowd in South Korea surged in an alleyway during Halloween festivities.

Residents lay flowers and searched for missing loved ones, after the Halloween stampede, which took place in a packed nightlife area.

A huge crowd celebrating in the popular Itaewon district surged into an alley on Saturday night. Emergency services remain on high-alert, adding the death toll could rise.

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol visited the site of a stampede after declaring a period of national mourning on Sunday.

He expressed condolences to the victims, most of whom were in their 20s.

It was the first Halloween event in Seoul in three years to be virtually free of Covid-19 restrictions and social distancing.

Many of the partygoers were wearing masks and Halloween costumes.

“There were so many people… and I had to turn around and I told the crowd you can’t come this way, people are dying, because I already knew how bad it was, and people were being so rude. And I had to tell them you cannot come this way… and it took so long for emergency services to arrive,” said Nathan Taverniti, who witnessed the stampede:

Community centres have become makeshift facilities for missing persons. Meanwhile, families and friends are desperately seeking word of loved ones.

South Korea’s Interior Ministry said at least 90 per cent of the victims had been identified.

Delays are expected to identify some foreign nationals and teenagers who did not yet have identification cards.

The disaster is the country’s deadliest since a 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 people, where many high school students lost their lives.