Yesterday, Saturday, South Korea witnessed a deadly stampede during the Halloween celebrations, the deadliest stampede in the country’s history, which killed more than 150 people.
Over the past ten years, the world has witnessed several painful stampedes resulting in a large number of victims, and AFP has reviewed the most prominent of them:
– At least 60 dead in Côte d’Ivoire:
On January 1, 2013, at least 60 people, including many youths, died in a stampede when a large crowd of spectators left the Plateau area of Abidjan (centre) after watching New Year’s fireworks.
– 115 deaths in India:
On October 13, 2013, a stampede on the sidelines of a religious ceremony near the Dathiya temple in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh (Central) killed at least 115 people who were hit or drowned and more than 110 people were injured, as the time of the accident was about 20 thousand people, on the bridge over the Indus River.
According to local authorities, the cause of the stampede was a rumor about a possible collapse of the bridge, which was run over by a tractor.
– 2300 deaths in Mecca, Saudi Arabia:
On September 24, 2015, a massive stampede at a stoning site in Mina, Mecca, during the Hajj pilgrimage, claimed the lives of about 2,300 people, making it the deadliest disaster in the history of the Hajj.
At least 52 people have died in Ethiopia:
On October 2, 2016, Ethiopian authorities reported that at least 52 people (according to the opposition at least 100) died during a stampede in Bishoftu (50 km southeast of Addis Ababa) after clashes with police during a traditional Oromo festival Erisha at the end of the rainy season.
56 deaths in Iran:
On January 7, 2020, a stampede occurred in Kerman (Southeast) during the participation of a large crowd at the funeral of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, resulting in the death of 56 people, AFP reported.
45 dead in Tanzania:
On March 21, 2021, 45 people died in a stampede at Dar es Salaam Stadium, Tanzania’s economic capital, during a ceremony honoring the late President John Magufuli.
– 45 dead in Israel:
On April 30, 2021, a stampede during the annual Jewish pilgrimage to Mount Meron (Al-Jarmak) in northern Israel killed at least 45 people in light of the country’s largest gathering since the Corona virus outbreak.
At least 133 people have died in Indonesia:
On October 1, 2022, a stampede occurred at a football stadium in Malang (east of Java) after police wanted to repel the crowd with tear gas, killing 133 people, including more than forty children, as many of the terrified victims were run over or strangled. Because they tried to use a closed or too narrow exit gate, six people, including three police officers, were prosecuted, the head of the district police was removed from his post, and the authorities decided to demolish the Kanjurukhan stadium.
– More than 150 deaths in South Korea:
On the night of Saturday, October 29, 2022, 153 people died and 134 were injured as a result of a stampede in Seoul during the celebration of Halloween, which was attended by thousands of people in the narrow streets of one of the districts of the South Korean capital.
Source: AFP