The Wonhyoro Sports Center was quiet on Tuesday, three days after the crash in the popular Itaewon area during Halloween celebrations, as a few people sifted through more than 800 lost items. Five kilometers from the site of the disaster, the modern sports facility was used in the early hours to hold the bodies of some of the 156 people crushed to death when a chaotic wave of crowds poured into a narrow alley late on Saturday. read more On Tuesday, his floor was littered with 256 pairs of shoes, 258 clothes, 124 bags and 156 electronics and other personal items, including stuffed animal keychains and festive Halloween masks. Cell phones and IDs were kept separately at a police station. [1/4] Shoes belonging to victims are placed in a gymnasium where recovered belongings of victims of a crowd crash that occurred during Halloween celebrations are kept in Seoul, South Korea, November 1, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji A survivor of the crash waded through the items looking for her purse, her left leg in a cast from her injury that night. He couldn’t find what he was looking for. The woman, who declined to give her name, said she and her friend were about to head home when the crowd swelled dangerously and resulted in a large crowd pushing forward in a narrow, sloping alley. She was locked in place near the bottom of the hill. “I was drowning at the bottom (of the strait), but I survived because my upper body wasn’t crushed,” he said. She said her boyfriend was also saved. South Korea is in a week-long period of national mourning, and top officials pledged on Tuesday to answer questions about how the tragedy unfolded and how the government could prevent similar disasters. read more The dead are 156 with 151 injured, of which 29 are in serious condition. At least 26 citizens from 14 countries were among the dead. A police officer told Reuters the gym opened for owners and their family members on Monday to claim their lost items, but few have come so far. Reported by Ju-min Park. Editing by Jack Kim and Gerry Doyle Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
