Why do crowd crushes happen?

About this episode

On 29th October 2022, 20,000 people were celebrating Halloween in the Itaewon neighbourhood of Seoul in South Korea. One particularly narrow street became very overcrowded, and a huge crush ensued, leading to the deaths of 153 people, with many more injured. A month later, we still don’t know exactly what caused the crush.  One of the theories out there is that a rumour spread in the crowd, leading them to believe that a celebrity was in a nearby bar. But a lot of blame has been apportioned to the authorities for poor planning and a slow response to events. A lot of people think that crowd crushes are down to a stampede of people running in panic and crushing others on the floor. Why do things get dangerous in such situations? Are crowd crushes rare or do they happen often? How can I protect myself and others if I end up in an overcrowded area?  In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen to the latest episodes, click here: ⁠Is Britain the new place to get your wine?⁠ ⁠Why is there such a taboo over the prostate?⁠ ⁠How can I take part in Giving Tuesday?⁠ A Bababam Originals podcast, written and produced by Joseph Chance. First Broadcast: 30/11/2022 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices