Over 150 killed in Seoul Halloween crowd surge

At least 153 people have died in a crush as huge Halloween crowds surged into a narrow street in South Korea's capital, Seoul, officials say.

At least another 82 were injured in the incident in the Itaewon nightlife area which was holding its first unmasked Halloween celebrations since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reports describe a desperate scene of people caught up in the crush piling on top of each other.

Most of the dead were teenagers or in their 20s. Twenty were foreigners.

The cause of the disaster is still being established.

The crush appears to have started in a narrow, sloped alleyway that was overcrowded with people. Pictures and videos on social media show the alley was so densely packed, people were unable to move. One video shows people struggling to breathe. In another, emergency responders try to pull out people from what appears to be a pile of bodies.

After holding an emergency meeting, South Korea's President, Yoon Suk-yeol, ordered a task force to be set up to help treat the injured. He also launched an investigation into the cause of the crush.

With the death toll as it stands, this is the deadliest disaster in South Korea since 2014, when the Sewol ferry sank killing more than 300 people.