The truth behind people shouting “go down” during Itaewon disaster, not a selfish slogan but one that saved life
A slogan chanted during the Itaewon crowd crush has managed to save life and help people escape.
“Go down! Go down!”
This is the slogan that citizens chanted all at once in a crowded alley hours before the massive crowd crushing accident occurred at the Halloween celebration in Itaewon. As crowds gathered in the narrow alleyway made it difficult to pass in both directions, a citizen shouted, “I can’t come up because it’s blocked in the back”, many at the scene managed to escape safely thanks to such a slogan.
On October 30th, a TikTok user posted a video with the caption, “Thank you”, in which she said, “I managed to get home thanks to a woman.” The video, which was filmed on October 29th, the day of the Itaewon disaster, captured the situation several hours before the accident.
According to this video, which is said to have been filmed around 7-8 pm (KST) on October 29th, the alley has been packed with a large crowd ever since. At the time, people going down from the top of the slope to get to Itaewon Station met with those trying to climb up and go into Itaewon, making the slope congested and impossible to pass.
At the time, a woman said in a loud voice, “Please pass this on. I can’t go up because it’s completely blocked in the back. Please wait a while for those who want to come up and go back down first. Please pass this on.”
Citizens who heard the woman responded with “Okay” and “Yes”, and soon the slogan “Go down! Go Down!” began to ring in the alley.
After this, citizens at the top of the slope began to back away while maintaining order, clearing out a huge part of the crowd at the top. In the video, words like “Oh, we are really going down”, can also be heard.
In a previous video, only shouts of “Go down!” were spreaded online, leading to misunderstandings. As a result, the slogan was deemed selfish, as it was misinterpreted that people from the top were trying to push their way down.
However, the misunderstanding was cleared up after the video and shooting time of the TikTok video were revealed, and testimonies of citizens who escaped safely at the time thanks to the slogan and leadership came out.
A netizen, who identified himself as a specific person in the video, said, “It happened when I passed the accident site around 7:30 PM” and “I can clearly remember the woman’s loud voice.” Another netizen commented, “I was also in the video, but this situation was between 7:30 and 8:00, long before the incident. I was also stuck for about 20 minutes, and then I barely came out breathing.”
On October 29th, 100,000 people gathered in Itaewon. According to the Seoul Transportation Corporation, the number of passengers getting on and off at Itaewon Station on the 29th was 13,131, more than double the number the previous day (59,995). The alleyway where the accident occurred was especially crowded with people because it was the road from Itaewon Station to Itaewon World Food and Culture Street. According to police, the accident occurred in the alley around 10:15 pm (KST). As of October 31st, 154 people were killed and 132 injured.
Source: Daum
