The mass panic in Seoul, South Korea, claimed 153 lives, one of the victims is an Austrian holidaymaker. The Viennese Josef Burker (24) survived the horror evening and talks about panic, fear and death.
After the pandemic madness, Josef Burker was looking forward to this one evening. It should have been a hilarious Halloween night in Itaewon. But it turned out very differently. “It was immediately clear to me that there were far too many people on the road,” says the 24-year-old student from Vienna. Crowds thronged the narrow streets, no trace of the usual police presence.
153 night owls died
The fatal consequences are sad reality. 153 young night owls were killed in a horrific stampede. According to South Korean media reports, 26 of them are not from their own country. An Austrian is also among the victims.
“It is with great dismay that we have to confirm the death of an Austrian national during the stampede in Seoul. The Austrian was visiting the capital,” it read. The identity of the deceased is not yet known. , is that it is not one of 140 Austrians who live permanently in Seoul, he is said to have spent his well-deserved vacation in the Korean capital and eventually found his death.
Josef Burker was able to escape him. “I was standing close to the wall when the panic broke out.” The crowd pushed and stumbled past. “We received a text warning from the government on our cell phones to leave the area.” But it was already too late. Burker had to endure hours in the chaos of death. His way back to “normality” was hell: “I saw corpses everywhere.”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
