South Korea Halloween crush: The lost belongings in pictures

  • Published
Image of dozens of shoes from victims of Seoul Stampede.Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

There are 256 pairs of shoes waiting for collection in the hall

The items are laid out neatly in the almost silent sports hall: designer handbags, well-worn trainers, headphones still nestled in their cases.

They are some of the possessions left behind as people desperately tried to escape the crush which took the lives of more than 150 Halloween revellers in a Seoul neighbourhood on Saturday.

The Wonhyoro sports centre - usually home to volleyball games and community events - has already played a part in this tragedy: it is here that rescuers brought the bodies in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

But now - just days later - survivors and victims' families have been invited into the hall, so they can pick out items that belonged to them or their loved ones.

On Tuesday, a couple came into the vast, echoey hall and picked up a black jacket. A group of girls walked in and took a pair of white heeled boots, covered in dirt.

The mood was calm and pensive as people surveyed the large rectangles of cloth and plastic picnic tables with their dirtied and crushed items - a grim reminder of the high number of tragic deaths and injured.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Families and survivors have been asked to come to the hall to collect their belongings

Image source, BBC/Danny Bull
Image caption,

Trainers, handbags and passports are among the items rescued from the scene of the disaster

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

The items have been carefully labelled

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

There are around 20 pairs of Apple headphones alone, an AFP news agency reporter says

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

About 1.5 tonnes of items were collected from the scene in Seoul

Image source, BBC/Danny Bull
Image caption,

Survivors and relatives of victims can pick out possessions that belonged to them or their loved ones

Image source, BBC/Danny Bull
Image caption,

Some of the clothing recovered by police is dirty

Image source, EPA
Image caption,

Many of the items have been damaged

Image source, EPA
Image caption,

A police officer said they collected as many belongings as possible "in case they belonged to victims"

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

One police officer told news agency Reuters few had come to collect their belongings so far

Related topics