S. Korea to provide financial aid for family of Sri Lankan who died in Halloween stampede

The South Korean government has decided to provide financial assistance to the family of the Sri Lankan youth who was among those who died in a stampede as huge Halloween crowds surged into a narrow street in South Korea’s capital, Seoul on October 29.

Ambassador of South Korea to Sri Lanka, Mr. Santhush Woonjin has mentioned this to PM Dinesh Gunawardena during a meeting, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

The 27-year-old male, identified s Mohamed Jinath had travelled to South Korea as a student while residing in Udathalawinna area in Kandy.

It was reported that he was later employed in South Korea for a period of 02 years. He got married in Sri Lanka 02 months ago and returned to South Korea weeks after his marriage.

More than 150 people died while at least 82 were injured in the crowd crush in Itaewon, Yongsan-gu of Central Seoul in South Korea.

The country’s fire department began to receive reports of patients having difficulty breathing at 10:22 p.m. on Saturday.

Of the people who died, more than 100 were transferred to the hospital. The remaining bodies were kept on site and later moved to a nearby multi-purpose indoor gymnasium. Identifying the deceased is expected to take some time, according to fire officials. 
Officials confirmed that 19 foreigners were among the dead as of 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Around 100,000 people were in the entertainment district throughout the day on Saturday to celebrate the first Halloween weekend without mask and social distancing measures since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.