What had to be a night of celebration in Seoul for Halloween ended up being a real tragedy due to an uncontrolled human tide. At least 146 people have lost their lives crushed in the avalanche, although the figure may increase as the number of injured exceeds 150. Among those attending what was to be a night of partying was a Majorcan who for just ten minutes he escaped being swallowed by the tide.
Xavi Bush, a young engineer who has been working for Samsung in Seoul for two months, was with some friends at the scene when he witnessed the tragedy inside a bar. “I have been very shocked to see civilians doing cardiopulmonary massages to people lying on the ground. There were policemen arm-wrestling others who had lost consciousness. I have also seen how the doctors who treated the victims went from one to another quickly when they saw that there was nothing to do to save that life, ”says this Spaniard in a telephone conversation with La Vanguardia.
“I have seen seven bodies in front of the bar, one next to the other piled up with their faces covered with bags,” explains this direct witness who still cannot believe what he has experienced this Friday. “I was very scared. You are shocked at something like that."
As Xavi Bush has learned, one of the hypotheses commented on by his circle of Korean friends was that a celebrity was in one of the premises in the area and that could have caused the human tide to go higher to try to get closer to the idol.
“The area is very famous for the party in general and since it was the first post-covid Halloween, it was already expected that there would be a lot of people. There was almost no room for a pin when we arrived at the place. We were in a bar and decided to go to another when we saw how everything was filling up. It already cost us a lot to make the journey from one place to another, we have still been ten minutes to walk fifteen meters... and just ten minutes after entering the second place we saw what was happening outside, "says Bush.
This 32-year-old Majorcan recounts the atmosphere outside as truly “crazy”. “The wood that they had on the terraces as heat insulation was creaking from so many people who were on the street at that time. It has been chaos." One thing that this engineer highlights is the solidarity that arose among those present in the area when they saw the magnitude of the tragedy. Both the security guards and other civilians did not hesitate to help in an attempt to save lives.
Both Xavi and his companions were unharmed by the human avalanche and the staff of the premises where they were enabled an exit that led to another street so that they could leave without major shocks.
