Authorities still don’t know exactly what caused the incident but Choi Seong-bum, Fire Department chief in Seoul stated it was a “presumed stampede” where many people fell and left at least 82 people injured.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called for an emergency meeting and addressed the nation to call for a period of mourning “until the handling of the accident is concluded.”

“A tragedy that should not have happened occurred in the middle of Seoul last night on Halloween,” Yoon said. “I pray for those who died in an unexpected accident and hope that the injured will recover quickly.”

Partygoers far and wide were excited about the celebrations in the Itaewon nightclub district without COVID restrictions. Witnesses claim that before the stampede even occurred people were packed in tightly on the street and could barely move from left to right.

“I saw people going to the left side and I saw the person getting to the opposite side. So, the person in the middle got jammed, so they had no way to communicate, they could not breathe,” Witness Sung Sehyun told CNN. He said the space was like a “jammed subway.”