Tessa Wong
Reporting from Seoul

It’s lunchtime in Seoul, and office workers and some families have turned up to mourn the Itaewon victims at City Hall.

Members of the public queue up at a tent, where they are handed stalks of white chrysanthemums - the flower of mourning in South Korean culture.

In small groups they walk up to the mourning altar covered in flowers, where they bow and pay their respects for a few minutes.

Above their heads, a white sign says “Joint Memorial for the Itaewon victims”, while flanking the stage are the Korean characters for “Sincere Condolences” - a common expression for South Korean funerals.

At a nearby field, a few steps away from the hall, a woman is wailing loudly and carrying a sign that says “I’m so sorry, guys”.

An older woman starts sobbing and bows to her. Another man comes up to her to comfort her, and she shouts: “It’s our fault they died!”

All around her a few hundred people mill about, quietly paying their respects and bowing to the altar.

Fan Wang
BBC News, Singapore

Image source, Getty Images

The Seoul district of Itaewon with its narrow streets and alleys crammed with bars and other businesses has been a landmark of South Korea's vibrant nightlife culture for decades.

It has been featured in multiple K-dramas and K-pop songs, such as Itaewon Class, which was aired by Netflix in 2020.

Its reputation took a dive in the 1990s over a notorious murder in a Burger King restaurant and other crimes. But it then regained a name for embracing diverse cultures from around the world and was once again a go-to spot for trendy young people.

These days Itaewon is one of the most popular neighbourhoods in Seoul for a night out. Locals and foreigners flock there every weekend, but Halloween is one of the busiest nights of the year.

The area was hosting its event without Covid restrictions on mask wearing or the numbers attending.

"After two years of Covid restrictions, this is where everyone wants to go," says Ana, a student from Spain who was in the area when the crush happened.

Now the country is reeling from the scale of the disaster that has taken place there - young people crushed to death as they were out celebrating.

As they mourn, some local business owners are not optimistic for the area's future.

"After all this, would people come to Itaewon now? They won't," Park Geun-ho, who has run businesses in the district for nearly 30 years, told Reuters on Sunday.

K-pop concerts and government briefings have been cancelled across the country, as South Korea mourns Saturday's tragic incident.

Schools, kindergartens and companies have also scrapped planned Halloween events that were due to take place.

In Itaewon itself cafes and shops near the narrow alleyway where the incident took place have also been closed.

Many of those who were caught up in the disaster and survived have been telling their stories on social media.

Among them is Nathan Taverniti from Sydney in Australia, who has spoken about pleading for help as he watched a friend die in front of him.

She was just 12 days shy of her 24th birthday, Mr Taverniti said in a tearful TikTok video, external, which has been viewed more than 9 million times.

"I was there when she said she couldn't breathe," he said, describing the crush as "slow and agonising".

"We were yelling... 'You have to go back, you have to turn around'... but nobody was listening."

Two other friends were also injured, he says.

"I watched as people filmed, and sang and laughed while my friends were dying, along with many other people."

Mr Taverniti criticised a "lack of planning" and response from officials, saying the tragedy could have been avoided.

"You know how many people were going to that event. Why were you not prepared?"

"I waited 30 minutes for the police to arrive where I was... and even longer for emergency services."

"There were people lying on the ground getting CPR, not by health professionals, by random people - whoever could."

Jonathan Head
Reporting from Seoul

Image source, Getty Images

The alley where the crush first began is blocked off by a single orange strip of police tape, and two police officers.

It is surprisingly short, and very narrow.

Discarded drinks bottles and food wrappings are the only signs now of the horrific events that unfolded here on Saturday night; and the bunches of flowers, just five at the alley entrance, and a wall of white flowers along the exit from the nearest subway station, broken up by occasional candles and bottles of the Korean drink sochu left in memory of the dead.

Mink and Federica, students from the Netherlands and Italy, laid their flowers, and recalled how lucky they were that night.

Mink arrived from a nearby bar as they were starting to give CPR to those who had collapsed.

"At the end of the alley there were 30, 40 bodies around me," said Mink.

"Everybody had been having fun, smiling, looking crazy, looking great. It just wasn’t something you could imagine would happen."

Federica also arrived at Itaewon just after the crush, and had no idea so many had died until she heard the news later.

"Seoul is famous for policemen being everywhere, and you always feel safe," she said. "It could have been better managed."

Korean actor Lee Jihan was among the victims of the Halloween crush on Saturday night.

The 24-year-old became known to the public after competing in the K-pop talent reality show "Produce 101" Season 2. He then was active as an actor and appeared in the web drama "Today Was Another Nam Hyun Day".

His agency 935 Entertainment confirmed his death in a statement on Sunday.

"He was a lovely and warm friend to everyone, and he was a bright and pure person who always greeted everyone with a smile. And nobody could believe that we won't be able to see those anymore," reads the statement published on the company's Instagram and Twitter accounts.

"He left us too soon. We hope you would warmly be along his side for his last journey."

Tessa Wong
Reporting from Seoul

On the second floor of Sooncheonhyang hospital funeral hall, where the media have now been given limited access, long keening wails can be heard from a room where the wake of one of the Itaewon victims is being held.

From afar, two women can be seen covering their faces with their hands as they weep.

A large black banner stands outside the room, expressing condolences for their loss. The air is thick with grief.

If you're just joining us, here's a recap of what happened in Itaewon on Saturday night.

• 154 people - mostly teenagers and young adults - died in a crush as crowds thronged a popular nightlife district of Seoul
• The jam of people developed as huge crowds gathered in Itaewon - a popular nightlife area - for Halloween.
• The crush began in a narrow alley, but officials don't yet know the cause or the circumstances that led to it
• South Korea's president declared a period of national mourning, and people in the area are leaving tributes to pay their respects to the victims
• Distraught relatives have been visiting hospitals and a missing persons centre in search of relatives, although nearly all of the dead have now been identified

Read more about how the crush unfolded here.

We've seen mourners leave flowers - as well as bottles of alcohol - as they pay their respects to the victims.

The ritual of bringing food for the deceased is common in South Korean culture - typically items that were enjoyed by the dead while they were still alive - as a way for them to continue partaking in it, even after death. It is seen as a way to bridge the gap between the living and the dead.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Some witnesses to the events of Saturday night have been saying there was confusion over police instructions to the crowd - although this has not been confirmed by the authorities.

There are multiple witness reports that some people in the crowd thought officers were saying "push" when actually they were saying "back up".

The crush took place in a narrow sloping alley in Itaewon. Police are examining CCTV footage of what happened.

Tessa Wong
Reporting from Seoul

Sooncheonhyang hospital is the hospital closest to Itaewon where most of the injured and victims were taken to.

The wakes for several South Korean victims and a few foreigners are expected to be held here today.

Security guards are preventing media from getting too close, as a steady trickle of sombre-looking people dressed in black walk in and out of the hall and avoid the cameras.

Dozens in South Korea have turned up at memorial stations - both makeshift ones and one set up by the government - to pay their respects.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

South Korea's interior ministry has been giving an update on the casualty figures.

They confirm that 154 people died. Of these, 98 were women and 56 were men.

The victims were overwhelmingly young - more than a hundred of them were aged in their 20s. Eleven teenagers died and thirty people aged in their thirties.

There were 26 foreigners among those who died - five Iranians, four Chinese, four Russians, two Americans, two Japanese, and one from each of France, Australia, Norway, Austria, Vietnam, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka.

More than 130 people were hurt including 37 with serious injuries.

As we mentioned earlier, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has promised a thorough investigation into the incident.

"The government will undertake a thorough investigation into what caused this accident and do its best to make necessary institutional changes so that such an accident is not repeated," he said.

He also said the identification process for all 154 victims except one was complete, and added that it was time for funeral procedures to be carried out for them, adding that the government would do their best to provide "necessary support".

Hello and welcome back to our coverage of the Halloween stampede in Seoul that saw more than 150 killed over the weekend.

Here's what you need to know to bring you up to speed this morning:

• Questions are beginning to emerge over the lack of security at the event, which saw an estimated 100,000 people come out to celebrate over the weekend
• The country's Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Monday promised a thorough investigation intothe crush, saying the government would make necessary changes to prevent suchan incident from happening again
• Interior minister Lee Sang-min had earlier said that a large number of police had been deployed at the other side of town in anticipation of a protest
• The city has also began making tribute preparations, with mayor Oh Se-hoon saying a memorial altar would be set up from Monday morning for people to pay their respects

Thank you for joining us for our coverage today.

The writers were Aoife Walsh, Mattea Bubalo, Phelan Chatterjee, Fan Wang, Jo Couzens, Oliver Slow, James Gregory and Thomas Mackintosh. It was edited by Thomas Spender, Laurence Peter, Aparna Alluri, Paulin Kola and Heather Sharp.

For more on the Itaewon tragedy, you can read our latest stories:

• 'I was trapped on a ledge, watching people die'
• How the Halloween tragedy unfolded

We're going to pause our live page coverage shortly, but let's quickly recap where things stand after the tragic Halloween stampede in Seoul:

• At least 154 people are known to have died following a stampede in a narrow alleyway in the Itaewon district of Seoul
• South Korean officials have warned the death toll could rise as 37 others remain seriously injured
• Distraught relatives in the Seoul have been visiting hospitals and a missing persons centre in search of relatives, although nearly all of the dead have now been identified
• An investigation is under way, but officials don't yet know the cause or the circumstances which led to the crush
• There have been conflicting reports about the exact number of foreign nationals killed, but current reports indicate it is 26 people, including five Iranians, four Russians and four Chinese nationals

Image source, Reuters

We are getting more and more indications of casualties from various embassies based in South Korea. South Korea's foreign ministry, cited by Reuters, and police, cited by Yonhap, both put the total of foreign nationals who died at 26.

Here's a quick recap of the countries that have said their citizens have died in the Seoul stampede:

• The Iranian embassy to South Korea has confirmed the deaths of five Iranians
• At least four Chinese nationals have died, the Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Chinese embassy in Seoul
• Four Russians have died, Tass news agency reported, citing the country's embassy in South Korea
• The US Embassy confirmed two Americans died
• Two Japanese nationals, a woman in her twenties and another woman between the age of 10 and 19, an official at Japan's foreign ministry said
• According to the French ministry of foreign affairs, one French citizen has died
• One Norwegian was killed, a spokesperson for the country's foreign ministry said

• A 29-year-oldThaiwoman was killed, the country’s foreign ministry told the BBC
• The Australian embassy in Seoul said one Australian had died, Australian media reported

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that people from Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, and Austria had also died.

Image source, EPA

An English teacher has told the BBC she decided to go to Itaewon last night as she heard it was "the place to be" for Halloween.

Gabrielle Austin, from Sutton Coldfield who lives in Busan, about 321km (200 miles) south of Seoul, said she became separated from her friends and managed to stay safe but witnessed bodies being carried away.

"People were crying, and hysterical," she says, "I thought a fight had broken out".

"I could see people carrying bodies. They just kept going," she said.

"There were bodies lain on the floor. People were trying to give CPR - and asking anyone who could give CPR.

"It didn’t dawn on us that they were dead bodies. We thought they were unconscious.

"We feel so lucky. We literally must have missed the crush by about 10 minutes."

People have been visiting the area in Itaewon where Saturday night's crush took place, and leaving flowers and cards to pay their respects to the people who died.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters