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The crowd surge that left more than 140 dead at Halloween festivities in South Korea's capital city of Seoul is the latest example of a deadly story that has been told around the world
The crowd surge that left dozens dead at Halloween festivities in South Korea's capital city of Seoul is the latest example of a deadly story that has been told around the world: People in a large crowd find themselves squeezed into a space so tight it is impossible to breathe
what you'll get. more accounts of what people went through who were there in the square at the time. you're watching bbc news. we've also been looking into the circumstances around this appalling incident. i've been speaking to keep still. he specialises in the teaching of crowd safety and crowd risk analysis. it’s teaching of crowd safety and crowd risk analysis-_ teaching of crowd safety and crowd risk analysis-— risk analysis. it's a narrow alleyway _ risk analysis. it's a narrow alleyway with _ risk analysis. it's a narrow alleyway with two - risk analysis. it's a narrow alleyway with two roads . risk analysis. it's a narrow- alleyway with two roads leading towards it for him what i've seen. it's like any environment and is a finite number of people you can contain. once you exceed those
the side of a hotel. let's speak to keith still, professor of crowd science at suffolk university. he specialises in teaching the principles and applications of crowd safety and crowd risk analysis. and you very much for your time. this is an appalling event, obviously. it is understandable within the confines of something like a stadium, but out in the open, how does this sort of thing happen? it is not in the open, it is a narrow alleyway with two roads leading towards it, from what i see and understand from the various video footage, crowds flowing from two different directions, down a narrow alleyway. it is like any environment, there is a finite number of people you can contain in that space safely. 0nce number of people you can contain in that space safely. once you exceed those safe limits, these are the kind of consequences.— those safe limits, these are the kind of consequences. usually, we would meet _ kind of consequences. usually, we would expect some _ kind of consequences. usually, we would expect some sort _ kind of consequences. usually, we would expect some sort of - kind of consequences. usually, we would expect some sort of panic, l kind of consequences. usually, we| would expect some sort of panic, a bit of a rush on, a stampede even, and that is not appear to have been the case, so how would one explain it? , ., ., ., , ,
It happened at a music festival in Houston, a soccer stadium in England, during a hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, in a Chicago nightclub, and countless
>> mhorrendous that it happened to so many people. and it doesn't take that much force to break ribs and even kick a kill as you've described. >> absolutely. there were studies done for crowd safety and it looked at various experiments on humans and data published, which you can't replicate now because of course it is significant risk to anybody exposed to high pressure and high density. but it takes five people pushing against one to collapse a rib or smash a head. and if you have that multiplied by tens of thousands of people, it just doesn't bear belief. it is utterly horrendous. >> the fact that this was the first big post-covid event in seoul, i mean what role might that have played here?
SEOUL, South Korea -- A mass of mostly young people celebrating Halloween in Seoul became trapped and crushed as the crowd surged into a narrow alley, killing at least 151 people and injuring 82 others in South Korea's worst disaster in years.
suffering the heartbreak of losing loved ones. >> reporter: it is a very somber atmosphere here in the heart of seoul's entertainment district of itaewon. people have been coming to lay flowers to show their respects. kim? >> all right, just so tragic. paula hancocks live in seoul, thanks so much. i want to discuss this a bit more with keith still, analyst of crowd safety and risk. he joins us this hour from england. thanks so much for being here with us. so why do you think -- this was so deadly. i mean, talk to me about the physics of what made this such a deadly event. >> certainly. i mean, the analogy here is, like a tachometer in a car. when you rev the engine in the red, there's a high chance of engine failure. same with crowd density. once the density, the packing density, the number of people per square meter increases above six or seven, there's a high