Grace Rached was days away from her 24th birthday when she attended Halloween celebrations in Seoul with her friends.
The 23-year-old Australian was among thousands who gathered in the nightlife Itaewon district of the South Korean capital on Saturday night.
As a sea of mostly young people took to the street in costumes and masks, Grace and her friends were caught up in a crowd crush when people surged into a narrow alley.
"I was there when she said she couldn't breathe and I grabbed one of my friend's hands," her friend, Nathan Taverniti later shared in a TikTok video.
“There was no stampede. It was a slow and agonising crush."
Grace is among over 150 people who have been killed in the tragic events that night. Her and Nathan's two other friends who went out on Saturday night are currently being treated in intensive care.
As details about the incident emerge, the Sydney film production assistant has been remembered as a "friendly" and "kind-hearted" person.
"Grace was a fun, friendly, kind-hearted and passionate individual who loved to make films and make people laugh. She will be deeply missed by her many family and friends, as well as her family here at Electriclime films," her former employer, Electriclime Films executive producer Shahn Devendran told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Recalling the events of Saturday night, Nathan blamed the crush on a lack of preparation by Seoul authorities.
"This crush was not caused by drunk people. It was lack of planning, police force and emergency services. Nobody was willing to help," he said on TikTok.
"I watched as people filmed and sang and laughed while my friends were dying among with many other people," he continued.
"We were yelling, saying 'you have to turn around, you have to go back, people are dying' but nobody was listening."
"I waited 30 minutes for the police to arrive where I was. It took over an hour for more police to arrive and even longer for emergency services."
One man recounted to The Guardian: "My friend said: something terrible is happening outside. I said: what are you talking about? And then I went outside to see and there were people doing CPR in the street. It's always crowded, but nothing like this has ever happened before. I've been to a lot of Halloween parties in Korea - I never thought that something like this could happen in Korea, especially in Itaewon."
Another witness said: "There were so many people just being pushed around and I got caught in the crowd and I couldn't get out at first too. I felt like an accident was bound to happen."
Authorities also said they are now investigating the exact cause of the incident.
The victims.
So far, over 153 people have been killed in the tragedy, including 97 women and 56 men.
More than 80 per cent of the dead are in their 20s and 30s, but at least four were teenagers. Choi Sung-beom, the head of the Yongsan Fire Station, said in a press conference that many of the victims were women in their twenties.
At least 20 of the dead are foreigners including one American and others from China, Russia, Iran and Australia.
Two Japanese nationals, a woman in her twenties and another woman between the age of 10 and 19, were also confirmed to have died in the crush, an official at Japan's foreign ministry said.
Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Catherine Raper joined Anthony Albanese in conveying Australia's condolences to the South Korean government, describing the incident as "tragic".
The disaster is among the country's deadliest since a 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 people, mainly high school students.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol presided over an emergency meeting with senior aides and ordered a task force be set up to secure resources to treat the injured and to launch a thorough investigation into the cause of the disaster. He also declared a national period of mourning.
US President Joe Biden and his wife sent their condolences and wrote: "We grieve with the people of the Republic of Korea and send our best wishes for a quick recovery to all those who were injured."
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also tweeted: "All our thoughts are with those currently responding and all South Koreans at this very distressing time."
With AAP.
This article was originally published on October 30, 2020 and was updated on October 31, 2022.
Feature Image: Facebook@grace.rached.5