S. Korean actor Yoon Hong-bin performed CPR on victim for over 20 minutes at Halloween crush

Yoon Hong-bin said there were dozens of other people performing CPR on other victims. B_BIN2/INSTAGRAM, Reuters

SEOUL (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): South Korean actor Yoon Hong-bin has disclosed he witnessed the aftermath of the Halloween crush in Itaewon last Saturday (Oct 30) night, and tried – but failed – to revive a victim.

At least 156 people have died in the tragedy, with many of the victims in their 20s.

Yoon, 28, wrote in Korean on social media on Sunday: “I thought I would enjoy Halloween Itaewon for the first time in my life. It was yesterday when I went to Itaewon and experienced a disaster right before my eyes.”

He said the main street was crowded at the time and he felt it was dangerous for him and his girlfriend, who was with him.

Yoon, known for his role as Prince Imhae in the historical drama The Jingbirok: A Memoir Of Imjin War (2015), said he had already been pushed around several times due to the large number of people in the area.

It took him more than 10 minutes to get out of the crowd and he helped another person who fell along the way.

He entered a pub where he had placed a reservation and was there for about an hour.

“I went out for a smoke and saw people getting carried down,” he wrote in a post which is no longer on his social media account.

“More people were being carried down, but as there were not enough ambulances to transport them, they began placing the people near the alley and performed CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).”

Yoon went over to help one of the victims as he noticed there were not enough police officers and medics at the scene.

“I administered CPR for over 20 minutes as my girlfriend massaged the victim’s arms and legs,” he wrote. “We were crying and praying for the victim to regain consciousness.”

Yoon said there were dozens of other people performing CPR on other victims, and he heard them also crying for the victims to open their eyes.

“There was only one who regained consciousness eventually,” he wrote. “I was unable to save the victim I was helping.”

Yoon said there were early signs of the tragedy which could have been prevented if measures were taken, such as deploying the police in the middle of the street to guide people to keep to one side.

“Please identify the causes of the incident and focus on what happened so that it will not be repeated,” he added.