Actor Yoon Hong-bin recalls administering CPR to Seoul crowd crush victim
South Korean actor Yoon Hong-bin recalled administering CPR to a victim at Itaewon’s Halloween crowd crush.
In a now-deleted Instagram post, Yoon, 28, shared his account of what happened in the Itaewon district of Seoul on Oct. 29.
The crowd crush, which took the lives of at least 156 people and injured at least 133 others, occurred when tens of thousands of partygoers flooded the nightclub district to celebrate Halloween.
“I thought I would enjoy Halloween Itaewon for the first time in my life. It was yesterday when I went to Itaewon and experienced a disaster right before my eyes,” Yoon wrote on Sunday.
According to Yoon, he and his girlfriend took more than 10 minutes to escape the crowd and enter a pub where they had a reservation.
“I went out for a smoke and saw people getting carried down,” he said. “More people were being carried down, but as there were not enough ambulances to transport them, they began placing the people near the alley and performed CPR.”
According to Yoon, he took it upon himself to help one of the victims.
“I administered CPR for over 20 minutes as my girlfriend massaged the victim’s arms and legs,” he recalled. “We were crying and praying for the victim to regain consciousness.”
According to the actor, there were dozens of people performing CPR on other victims.
“There was only one who regained consciousness eventually,” Yoon said. “I was unable to save the victim I was helping.”
Yoon added that the tragedy could have been prevented if police were deployed on the streets to guide people instead of at the roadside.
“Please identify the causes of the incident and focus on what happened so that it will not be repeated,” Yoon urged authorities.
Yoon is known for his role in the 2015 historical drama series “The Jingbirok: A Memoir Of Imjin War.” He has also starred in films, such as “Time Renegades” and “I Order You.”
South Korean actor Lee Jihan, who was also at the Halloween festivities, was among those crushed to death, his agency confirmed to local news outlets on Saturday evening.
The National Police Agency’s Public Order Management Bureau chief Hong Ki-hyun said the police did not “expect large-scale casualties” in Itaewon. The officers on-site reportedly focused on “cracking down on illegalities and crimes and managing road traffic.”
“It was foreseen that a large number of people would gather there. But we didn’t expect that large-scale casualties would occur due to the gathering of many people,” Hong Hong said on Monday. “I was told that police officers on the scene didn’t detect a sudden surge in the crowd.”
The incident has been called South Korea’s worst tragedy since the sinking of the MV Sewol ferry in 2014. The nation’s entertainment industry and world leaders have since released statements to express their condolences.
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