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2022 · 159 Lives LostHalloween night · Seoul, South Korea Lesson 14 of 15
Itaewon (2022): Case Study & Safety Analysis
No organiser. No plan. 100,000 people in narrow alleys. 79 emergency calls warning of a crush - before it happened.
Background & Historical Context
Itaewon is Seoul's most international nightlife district, and Halloween there had grown into a huge, organic, post-pandemic celebration for young Koreans and expats alike. Crucially there was no organiser — it was a spontaneous gathering, so no one was responsible for managing the crowd that packed its steep, narrow alleys.
Why this incident matters to event managers today:Crowds form whether or not anyone 'organises' them — and an event with no owner has no one watching density or empowered to act. Someone must own crowd safety for any predictable gathering, monitor the space, and treat early warnings as the emergency they are, not background noise.
Itaewon
Halloween night · Seoul, South Korea · 2022
159 lives lost
No organiser. No plan. 100,000 people in narrow alleys. 79 emergency calls warning of a crush - before it happened.
Next Case Study Lesson
Continue Learning: Hathras (2024)
Permission was granted for 80,000. A quarter of a million people came. The crush came as everyone tried to leave.