SEOUL — As rescue efforts continued in the aftermath of the tragedy in Seoul, the authorities created a makeshift disaster management center and first aid clinic under several tents in front of Hamilton Hotel, near the site of the deadly crowd surge.
Whiteboards were set up there with information continually updated by the authorities, including the death toll, and a list of confirmed victims. A desk with a clipboard and a pen was dedicated to reporting missing persons.
Some people were covered in space blankets as emergency workers performed first aid. Hundreds of police officers had tight control over access to the area around the booths.
Near the makeshift center, rescue workers tended to the injured, performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on dozens of people. Medics with stretchers carted victims to ambulances along the street.
Firefighters equipped with flashlights disappeared into a taped-off alleyway. They would not say what they were investigating.
“The top priority is to evacuate and save the victims. We should take them to urgent medical treatment as quickly as possible,” President Yoon Suk Yeol told his cabinet, according to his office.
