Tokyo, 31 October, /AJMEDIA/
Dozens of foreigners were among the 154 killed in a crowd crush which took place in the South Korean capital Seoul during Halloween festivities on Saturday night, including two Japanese women, according to local authorities and the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
One of the Japanese victims was Mei Tomikawa, 26, from Nemuro in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido, who was learning Korean in the country, according to her family. The other was an 18-year-old woman believed to have travelled to South Korea in order to study, according to a South Korean source.
Ayumu Tomikawa, Tomikawa’s father, told reporters in Nemuro on Monday morning that he is making arrangements to go to Seoul immediately. “I just want to see her as soon as possible,” the 60-year-old city assemblyman said.
Of the 154 victims, 26 were foreigners from 14 countries, including Iran, China, Russia and the United States, according to the South Korean government.
The deadly crush, which occurred in an alleyway in the busy entertainment district of Itaewon, has also left more than 130 injured, according to the authorities.
Tomikawa’s family last heard from her on Saturday evening, when she notified them that she was going out with a French friend. After calling her repeatedly on Sunday morning, they finally got through, but the person at the end of the line was a police officer. The officer informed them that the phone had been found at the scene, according to her family.
Tomikawa came to Seoul in June. According to her father, she had wanted to do a job that involves Japan-South Korea ties. Her acquaintance in Seoul said Tomikawa had intended to stay in South Korea long term.
The crush was the deadliest accident in South Korea since the 2014 sinking of the ferry Sewol that killed more than 300 people, most of them high school students, according to local media.
