Australian in South Korean Halloween stampede reveals how his good friend was crushed: Nathan Taverniti

An Australian holidaymaker has explained observing his travelmate from Sydney remaining crushed to death in the horrific Halloween stampede that claimed at least 153 life on the streets of Seoul, South Korea. 

Nathan Taverniti explained he is now performing as guardian for the human body of the dead girl, who was 12 days shy of her 24th birthday.

Two extra of his Australian mates in the team of 4 who went out to love the Halloween celebrations in the central Itaewon district have been also caught up in the disaster,  with just one sill in intense treatment.

The horror unfolded on Saturday evening when a sea of primarily youthful individuals turned jammed in a group crush believed to have been sparked by revellers flocking to see a local celebrity close by.

Mr Taverniti mentioned he tried out to seize his close friend out of the suffocating chaos but was unable to preserve her.

‘I was there when she claimed she couldn’t breathe and I grabbed 1 of my friend’s arms,’ he claimed in a TikTok post.

‘There was no stampede, it was a gradual and agonising crush.’

Nathan Taverniti who was holidaying in Seoul noticed his journey companion from Sydney crushed to death in the Halloween disaster on Saturday evening

Emergency personnel urgently try out to extricate people most in require of healthcare assistance from the group on Saturday night

He previously informed a South Korean newspaper that: ‘All I could see was a wall of folks … it was unattainable (to save her).’ 

He later observed her taken away on a stretcher but couldn’t obtain her. 

Mr Taverniti said he was creating the online video soon after just arriving at his accommodation owning located his friend’s physique, which he only did with the assist of some ‘kind-hearted reporters’ from the American ABC community.

A Division of Overseas Affairs and Trade spokesperson has verified an Australian died in the tragedy, which also price tag the life of 18 other foreigners.

‘The Australian Govt sends its condolences to the family and other individuals impacted by this tragic incident,’ he claimed.

‘We inquire for the family’s privacy to be highly regarded all through this complicated time.’

Consular officers were being in speak to with the deceased woman’s family members in Australia and ended up helping ‘a variety of other Australians who have been existing at the event’.

Mr Taverniti dressed up with four pals from Australia to acquire part in Seoul’s Halloween celebrations

Mr Taverniti reacts although looking for his friend’s identify on the listing of lacking individuals at a local community company centre just after a stampede all through Halloween festivities in Seoul, South Korea, Oct 30, 2022

Olivia Jacovic, a 27-yr-old West Australian living in Seoul, advised Channel Nine how she and her close friends narrowly escaped the deadly crush following using 40 minutes to get out of the subway prevent at the web page. 

‘It was seriously hard, I experienced bruises on my arms from trying to manoeuvre out but we got on the sidelines the good news is and we were being standing up on this brick wall and we could see previously mentioned,’ she mentioned. 

‘It was just shoulder-to-shoulder, individuals could not breathe the shorter persons were making an attempt to appear up in the air to get some air.’

Ms Jacovic mentioned she had to wrestle tricky to totally free herself from the surging crowd.

‘I just needed to get out of there… I do not care that my outfits were being getting ripped, she said. 

Mr Taverniti blamed the lack of scheduling and police preparedness for the catastrophe.

‘I viewed as individuals filmed and sang and laughed even though my good friends had been dying among with many other folks,’ he stated.

‘I was there striving to pull folks out due to the fact there was not adequate law enforcement officers and no one was undertaking something to make the group quit.

‘We were yelling, saying ‘you have to transform about, you have to go again, individuals are dying’ but no person was listening.

‘I waited 30 minutes for the police to get there the place I was. It took around an hour for much more law enforcement to get there and even longer for crisis companies.’

Olivia Jacovic advised Channel Nine how she narrowly escaped the crush that claimed the lives of 153 people in Seoul

Those people caught in the crush ended up left stunned, checking their phones to test and contact missing cherished types or hugging just one a further

He verified other reports that CPR was administered by volunteers.    

‘There have been people lying on the ground getting CPR not by wellbeing gurus by random people today, whoever could,’ Mr Taverniti claimed. 

‘I am sad. I am devastated by this problem which could have been so quickly avoided but no person would hear.’ 

Sydney female Julia Cho, was a single of four mates with Mr Taverniti, has also shared her working experience on TikTok.

Ms Cho claimed her sister was in intense treatment, though the other close friend experienced shed their life,

She also shipped a damning evaluation of law enforcement and other solutions. 

The incident on Saturday evening led to 140 ambulances getting deployed to assist handle and evacuate the wounded

‘Local authorities were not on standby and still left innocent individuals helpless, irrespective of being aware of there was an too much amount of money of folks in the streets with nowhere to go,’ she mentioned.

‘This happened very early in the night. Folks had been suffocating, toppling in excess of one particular a further and crushed.’

‘The leaders and authorities maintain sole duty and have unsuccessful their folks.’

Revelers dressed in Halloween costumes are viewed leaving the scene following a crush killed at minimum 146 persons in Seoul 

Seoul’s unexpected emergency products and services had been confused by the lethal crush amongst a 100,000-strong group there to show up at the city’s 2022 Halloween Festival.

It was initial time the festival experienced been held in full given that Covid, with the crush occurring soon after 10pm area time (8pm EADT). 

Officials verified that dozens of individuals went into cardiac arrest and the selection of deaths is even now predicted to rise. An unspecified amount continue being in a important problem in clinic.

Photographs from the scene confirmed at the very least 25 bodies lying on the floor in the streets of Seoul, concealed by yellow blankets. A individual line of bodies included in blue blankets was also photographed.

As the comprehensive scale of the tragedy was however staying realised, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol stated on Sunday early morning that the lethal stampede ‘should not have happened’.

An fatigued young female is carried away from the scene to basic safety following becoming caught up in the night’s situations

‘In the centre of Seoul, a tragedy and disaster transpired that need to not have took place,’ Yoon explained in a nationwide deal with, vowing to ‘thoroughly investigate’ the incident and ensure it could never ever transpire all over again.

In accordance to regional unexpected emergency responders, many of the victims were girls in their 20s, and most were being youngsters or in their early twenties. 

A makeshift morgue was set up in an adjacent making owing to the sheer selection of fatalities.

Officials included it was believed that people have been crushed to demise after a significant crowd began pushing ahead in a slim alley in close proximity to Hamilton Lodge, a key occasion location in Seoul, upon listening to rumours a movie star was close by.

Dozens of persons were presented CPR on Itaewon’s streets even though numerous others have been taken to nearby hospitals. 

One particular witness explained the height of the crush: ‘People have been layered on prime of other individuals like a tomb. Some were progressively dropping their consciousness although some appeared lifeless by that point.’ 

Images and video clips on social media exhibit horrific scenes of stress in the aftermath of the crush, and people’s desperate endeavours to escape from the building tragedy. 

Areas of costumes had been scattered all around the scene of the fatal crush several hours following it transpired, as law enforcement began their investigation into the bring about

One particularly distressing video confirmed dozens of people today having difficulties to breathe and continue to be on their toes in the group as rescue workers attempted to extricate those people most in will need of healthcare aid from the throng. 

Extra than 1,700 emergency personnel ended up deployed from throughout South Korea to reply to one of the deadliest group crushes in latest record. 

Far more footage overlooking the avenue confirmed dozens of unexpected emergency responders working desperately to administer CPR to victims lying on the street. 

Hundreds of law enforcement officers experienced been deployed to the place in advance of Saturday evening in anticipation of the substantial crowds, but they were reportedly struggling to continue to keep control in the minutes just before the tragedy unfolded.