Leading Alley Traffic and Joining Rescue Efforts... Citizens Offering a 'Helping Hand'

On the 29th, when the Itaewon Halloween disaster occurred, a video with the caption "Thanks to a woman, I got home. Thank you" was uploaded on a TikTok account. / TikTok capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] On the 29th, a large-scale crushing accident at the Itaewon Halloween party resulted in over 300 casualties. Stories of citizens who were able to escape the dangerous situation with the help of those around them are being reported one after another.

On the 30th, a video was posted on a TikTok account with the caption "Thanks to a woman, I got home. Thank you."

This video is known to have been filmed around 7 to 8 PM, 2 to 3 hours before the accident occurred, in the alley where the tragedy happened. The situation in the video shows that the alley was so crowded with people trying to go down towards the main road near Itaewon Station and others trying to come up from below that passage was impossible.

At this time, a woman at the upper part of the alley began to take control herself. She shouted loudly, "Please pass this message forward. It's completely blocked back here, so you can't come up," and "Those who want to come up, please wait, and those going down, please move first. Pass this message forward."

Many people responded with "Good," and several people shouted "Go down, go down," helping to maintain order. Soon, people at the upper part of the alley were able to move down little by little.

BJ Baejiteo who was at the Halloween Itaewon disaster site. / YouTube capture

Internet broadcaster (BJ) Baejiteo, who was at the scene during the accident, shared a story of being rescued by a citizen and then joining in rescuing others. BJ Baejiteo was live streaming at the time of the tragedy and found himself in a dangerous situation as the crowd surged.

Fortunately, BJ Baejiteo was near the railing of a building next to the alley and was able to escape the crowd with the help of a citizen. After catching his breath, BJ Baejiteo stepped up to help rescue others, and several people with him grabbed the hands of those below the railing and pulled up 2 to 3 people.

A little later, when BJ Baejiteo tried to continue rescuing, some people said, "It's dangerous here too. Stop pulling people up." However, BJ Baejiteo replied, "Let's save just one more person," and managed to pull up one more person.

Meanwhile, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, the accident resulted in 154 deaths and 149 injuries, with a total of over 300 casualties.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.