[Itaewon Disaster] Foreign Media: "Largest Casualty Since Sewol Ferry Tragedy"

Emergency medical technicians conducting rescue operations at the site of the Halloween fatal accident in Itaewon, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, which occurred on the 29th. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] Major foreign media outlets urgently reported the large-scale crush disaster that occurred on the night of the 29th in the Itaewon-dong area of Seoul.

The American daily newspaper The New York Times (NYT) displayed a breaking news banner and reported the situation in Korea in real time. The NYT described it as "one of the deadliest accidents during a peaceful period in recent Korean history."

Other major foreign media, including The Washington Post (WP), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), CNN, and the British BBC, are also covering this incident as a significant event.

The WP reported, "The Itaewon disaster appears to be one of the deadliest accidents in Korea since the Sewol ferry sinking in 2014, which claimed 304 lives," adding, "Following the incident on the 1st of this month where at least 130 people died at a soccer stadium in Indonesia, there have been two large-scale crush accidents within a month."

The WSJ reported that the event held in Itaewon on this day, ahead of Halloween, "was the first since the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), and many restrictions such as operating hour limits and outdoor mask mandates had been lifted."