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Explainer: Seoul's crowd crush tragedy — what to do in such a situation and how it's different from a stampede

A scene showing part of the crowd trapped in a narrow alleyway in Seoul's Itaewon district on Oct 29, 2022.

A scene showing part of the crowd trapped in a narrow alleyway in Seoul's Itaewon district on Oct 29, 2022.

The Halloween tragedy in Seoul is correctly described as a "crowd crush" and it is wrong to call it a "stampede", experts said.
The distinction must be made as it can affect crowd control measures, they said.
Injuries one may sustain in a stampede may vary but the outcomes are largely similar to a crowd crush.
In both scenarios, deaths are also usually caused by suffocation, when the pressure created by people piling up can obstruct breathing.
In past incidents, very thick metal railings were bent from the pressure of the crowd, which shows how much force can be exerted when a crowd moves.

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