Many killed in South Korean stadium stampede

Disaster at a pop concert in Sangju

At least 11 people died and dozens were injured in a stampede as the audience started to enter a stadium in the South Korean city of Sangju for a concert.

According to local media, more than 5,000 people were trying to get in through a single gate.

Some of those at the front fell and were crushed by the crowd behind them, witnesses said. The dead were mostly elderly women along with three boys.

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The concert of old pop songs was cancelled after the stampede, reports the BBC.

Officials said at least 60 people were injured in the stampede, which happened at about 1740 local time (0840 GMT) earlier today (October 3).

One witness said the crowd had been waiting for two hours and was becoming visibly impatient when one of the gates opened.

Shing Dong-won told YTN TV that when it opened “the crowd surged with a roar”.

“Old women and children in the front fell,” he said.

The concert, on a public holiday, was taking place at the end of a three-day festival organised by the city authorities.

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