SEOUL —

South Korean police investigated on Monday what caused a crowd surge that killed more than 150 people including 26 foreigners during Halloween festivities in Seoul in the country’s worst disaster in years, as President Yoon Suk Yeol and tens of thousands of others paid respects to the dead at special mourning sites.

Saturday's disaster was concentrated in a sloped, narrow alley in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood, a popular nightlife district, with witnesses and survivors recalling a "hell-like" chaos with people falling on each other like dominoes. They said the entire Itaewon area was jammed with slow-moving vehicles and partygoers clad in Halloween costumes, making it impossible for rescuers and ambulances to reach the crammed alleys in time.

Questions remain after deadly crowd surge

Police said they've launched a 475-member task force to investigate the crush.

Officers have obtained videos taken by about 50 security cameras in the area and are also analyzing video clips posted on social media. They have interviewed more than 40 witnesses and survivors so far, senior police officer Nam Gu-Jun told reporters Monday.

Other police officers said they are trying to find exactly when and where the crowd surge started and how it developed. They said a team of police officers and government forensic experts searched the Itaewon area on Monday.

"The government will thoroughly investigate the cause of the incident and do its best to make necessary improvements of systems to prevent a similar accident from recurring," Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said at the start of a government meeting on the disaster.

The Itaewon area, famous for its cosmopolitan atmosphere, is the country's hottest spot for Halloween-themed events and parties, which have grown increasingly popular among young South Koreans in recent years. An estimated 100,000 people were gathered there in the country’s largest Halloween celebration since the pandemic began.

2 Americans among foreigners killed

The dead included 26 foreign nationals.

One of the Americans killed was Anne Gieske, a University of Kentucky nursing student from northern Kentucky who was doing a study-abroad program in South Korea, the university said in a statement. The other was Steven Blesi, 20, his father, Steve Blesi, wrote on Twitter after earlier seeking information about his son.

Blesi appealed for information after not hearing from his son, asking, “If anyone has any news please share.” After a flood of responses offering help and support, he tweeted, “We just got confirmation our son died,” followed by “Thank you for the outpouring of love. We need time to grieve.”

Australian victim Grace Rached, a Sydney film production assistant, was described by her family as "our life of the party." Her family said in a statement that “We are missing our gorgeous angel Grace, who lit up the room with her infectious smile.”

The Japanese dead included Mei Tomikawa, who was studying Korean language in Seoul, according to Japanese media. Her father, Ayumu Tomikawa, told Japanese public broadcaster NHK that his daughter "really liked South Korea and was enjoying her life there."

Background on festivities and emergency response

Halloween festivities in Itaewon have no official organizers. South Korean police said Monday they don't have any specific procedures for handling incidents such as crowd surges during an event that has no organizers.

Police said they dispatched 137 officers to maintain order during Halloween festivities on Saturday, much more than the 34-90 officers mobilized in 2017, 2018 and 2019 before the pandemic.

Citing those figures, police dismissed as "different from the truth" speculation that a police station in the area was understaffed because it was providing extra security for Yoon, who earlier moved the presidential office to a site near Itaewon. They said police-provided security for presidents has long been handled by two special police units which have nothing to do with the Yongsan police station, whose jurisdiction includes Itaewon.

Some witnesses said the stampede was caused by people in the upper part of the downhill alley pushing others in the lower area. Local media also questioned an apparent lack of safety preparations for the large crowd expected to gather in Itaewon.

Asked about those possibilities, Nam, the police officer, said the investigation would look into all possible causes of the crush.

As of Monday morning, the government said it has identified 153 of the 154 bodies and informed relatives of their identification. Nearly two-thirds of the dead — 98 — were women. It said 149 others remain injured. The death toll could rise further because officials said 33 of the injured were in serious condition.

More than 80% of the dead were in their 20s or 30s and 11 were teenagers, the Interior Ministry said.

Among foreign victims, five were from Iran, four from China, four from Russia, two from the United States, two from Japan, and one each from Australia, Norway, France, Austria, Vietnam, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka, according to the ministry.

As the identification of the dead neared completion, bereaved families were expected to begin funerals for their loved ones. Officials said the government will provide the necessary support for funeral procedures.

President Yoon on Sunday declared a one-week national mourning period and ordered flags at government buildings and public offices to fly at half-staff.

The government opened special memorial sites on Monday in Seoul and other major cities. Tens of thousands of people including Yoon and other top officials visited the sites, placed white flowers and bowed deeply. Many people also laid chrysanthemums, bottles of Korean "soju" liquor, candles and snacks near an Itaewon subway station and posted a host of condolence messages.

Following the disaster, many hotels, department stores, amusement parks and other businesses canceled Halloween-themed events.

The crowd surge was South Korea's deadliest disaster since 2014, when 304 people, mostly high school students, died in a ferry sinking.

The sinking exposed lax safety rules and regulatory failures. It was partially blamed on excessive and poorly fastened cargo and a crew ill-trained for emergency situations. Saturday’s deaths will likely draw public scrutiny of what government officials have done to improve public safety standards since the ferry disaster.

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Associated Press writers Adam Schreck in Bangkok and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

HOUSTON, Texas — Emergency plans for the Astroworld music festival in Houston did not include protocols for dangerous crowd surges, even though that's what authorities believe happened Friday night when eight people died as rapper Travis Scott performed.

Hundreds of others were injured, including a 9-year-old boy whose family said was still in a coma on Tuesday. Attendees described scenes of panic in the crowd as fans pressed forward when Scott took to the stage.

The concert area remains largely in place as authorities continue a criminal investigation.

The Associated Press reports that a 56-page safety plan for the festival included protocols for active shooters, bomb threats and severe weather. However, the plan did not include protocols for a potential crowd surge.

Houston's police and fire departments played a key role in keeping the 50,000 attendees safe at the concert. However, the union head of the Houston Fire Department pushed back Tuesday, saying firefighters did not have a presence inside the festival and were not given radios to communicate directly with organizers, even though they had asked for them.

"We don't use cellphones for emergencies. We use radios. We need direct contact because as situations unfold, seconds matter," Marty Lancton said.

More than 20 lawsuits have already been filed, accusing organizers of failing to take simple crowd-control steps or staff properly.

Houston's police and fire departments have already vowed to conduct their own investigation into the tragedy. However, the top elected official in Harris County has called for an independent review of the tragedy in the hopes of removing any potential conflicts of interest.

During a press conference Wednesday, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner pushed back on the need for an independent investigation.

“Because I’m really confident on who we are here at HPD and I think we can do our own investigation," said Finner. "And let’s not jump ahead of things. We’re only a few days into this and I’m pretty confident with what our investigators are doing already.”

Finner said the ultimate authority to end the show was with production and Scott.

"And that should be through communication with public safety officials," said Finner.

The chief was also asked about his relationship with Scott and whether it should be considered a conflict of interest.

“If you call meeting him twice a special relationship – and I’m not being smart, I just want to be open and transparent – that’s not a close relationship to me. I’ve only spoken to him twice. So, let’s put that to rest,” said Finner.

Finner noted that merchandise tents played a role in the craziness at the event.

“A big thing and big challenge was merchandise tents, very sought-after merchandise. That’s what caused some of the kids rushing towards that and breaking barriers, breaking down barriers,” said Finner.

The chief added that the investigation is going to take time.

“Timelines are a major focus of the investigation right now. This type of investigation is going to take weeks, possibly months, so I ask everyone to allow us to let the investigation lead us to the facts as to what, how and why this occurred,” said Finner.