Senin, 31 Oktober 2022

Morbi bridge collapse: The brothers who died in Sunday's disaster - BBC

Dharmik, Chetan, and Chirag

On Sunday evening, Chirag Mucchadiya, 20, and his brothers, Dharmik, 17, and Chetan, 15 went on an outing.

They told their mother Kantaben they were going to "julto pul", or hanging bridge - a historic colonial era suspension footbridge, which had reopened just a few days earlier, after months of repairs.

It was the week of Diwali festivities. Schools were off, and many families had the same idea as Chirag and his brothers.

They bought a ticket -17 rupees ($0.21) for adults and 12 for children - and walked across the 230-metre (755ft) bridge.

Short presentational grey line

Nitin Kavaiya was also there, along with his wife, and his two daughters - one aged seven, and the other a seven-month old infant.

The family posed for photos, including selfies. At around 18:30 local time they got off the bridge and sat on one of the banks of the Macchu river.

"It was very crowded on the bridge. I think there might have been 400-500 people on it," says Nitin.

"I went and told the people selling tickets that they should reduce the crowds. I don't know what they did about it."

Ten minutes later, as he bent down to give his baby daughter a sip of water, he heard the sound of shouting and screaming.

The bridge had snapped, closer to the other edge of the shore, its metal walkway dangling on both sides.

"I saw people slipping into the water and they didn't surface after that," he says. "Others were clinging on to parts of the bridge trying to stay afloat. Many of us tried to help whoever we could."

At least 141 people were killed. Chirag, Chetan and Dharmik were among them.

Nitin Kavaiya and family on the bridge, before its collapse

Back at the brothers' home, one of their friends told their mother, Kantaben, that the bridge had collapsed.

"I started calling my sons, but I couldn't get through," she says. "I was very restless and began pacing up and down my house."

Her husband Rajesh rushed to the scene. Then he started doing the rounds of hospitals. At 23:00, he found the bodies of Dharmik and Chirag at the Morbi Civil Hospital.

In the darkness of the night, the police, local officials, disaster response teams and military personnel continued their search for survivors, and the bodies of the dead.

At 03:00, Chetan's body was also found. At the Mucchadiya home, a steady stream of mourners began to visit.

"We've lost all our sons, our everything," Kantaben says. "What do we have now? My husband and I are all alone."

Kanta Mucchadiya

Chirag, 20, worked in a factory making spectacles. His earnings, along with what his father Rajesh makes working as a driver, sustained the family.

"Chirag was a very nice person. He listened to everything I said. And I also tried to give him whatever he asked for," Rajesh says.

Dharmik would have been 18 on 14 December. He'd begun to look for a job. "He was very mischievous. We had a lot of fun together. Now they're all gone," his father says.

"He loved tel paratha (fried flatbread) and always wanted me to make it for him," his mother adds.

Chetan was the youngest and was in the tenth grade at school. Rajesh describes him as a "master at studies".

They proudly display passport size photos of their sons, which appear to have been taken a few years ago, when they were younger.

"Whoever is responsible for my sons' deaths should be punished," Kantaben says. "They should rot in jail for the rest of their lives. They should be given the death sentence."

Rajesh adds: "We want answers. And we want justice."

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There are many families who've lost more than one member in the collapse.

Nine people have been arrested so far, including the ticket sellers, security guards and managers of Oreva, the company which renovated the bridge.

Oreva has not responded to questions about the collapse. Some are asking if top-level managers in the company will also be investigated.

Many on the ground are also questioning the role of civic officials - asking if safety checks were done before the bridge was reopened.

"Whenever I close my eyes now I only see the visual of the collapsed bridge, and hear the voices of the people who were plunged into the river," says Nitin.

"I tore the ticket stub I had in anger. And it's not just me - the whole town is in grief and anger."

Rajesh, meanwhile, calls for a "proper investigation".

"Otherwise," he says, "people will keep dying like my children did."

  • Additional reporting by Aakriti Thapar and Sanjay Ganguly

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2022-10-31 21:26:05Z
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Brazil election: A moment in history as Lula returns - BBC

Lula addressing supporters in São Paulo after his election win, 31 Oct 22Reuters

As news of Lula's victory spread, a sea of red - the colours of his Workers' Party - massed on São Paulo's main street, Paulista Avenue, eager for a glimpse of the president-elect.

"Lula has returned," the crowd chanted, as they let off red smoke in celebration.

"It was a very hard campaign," Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva admitted to the crowds a few hours later. "It wasn't Lula against Bolsonaro, it was a campaign of democracy against barbarity."

Like him or loathe him, the fact that Lula, once Brazil's most popular politician, is returning to the top job is a moment in history.

"I feel free, relieved not only for the Brazilian people but for the whole planet - for the Amazon, for democracy, for human rights," said 47-year-old Viridiana Aleixo, while admitting that Brazil remained very divided. "We have to be very patient, and we have to leave the anger and hatred behind."

Twenty years ago, Lula came to power promising huge change - but a subsequent fall from grace over corruption scandals disqualified him from running in 2018. He had a stint in prison, before his charges were annulled. It has been quite a journey for Lula, but he has returned with a vengeance.

"I went through a political resurrection, because they tried to bury me alive," Lula said. "From the first of January there won't be two Brazils, we are one - we don't want to fight anymore, it's time to lay down our weapons that should never have been raised in the first place."

But uniting Brazil will be Lula's biggest challenge.

On Sunday, 24-year-old Felipe Fonte went to vote dressed in Brazil's football shirt, a colour that's become linked with Brazil's far right.

"I think [President Jair] Bolsonaro has a lot of flaws, but he's a man of God," says Felipe. "He has the right principles, and he's not the biggest thief that ever existed in Brazil. So that for me is the biggest thing."

Although Lula officially takes over in the new year, his job begins now - trying to win over people like Felipe.

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"Starting tonight, the focus must be on initiating a dialogue with those who didn't vote for the president," says Oliver Stuenkel, professor of international relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in São Paulo. "He needs to be the president for all Brazilians."

In the wake of Lula's victory, there was silence from the Bolsonaro camp. The rumour was he had gone to bed. A bad loser perhaps, but there is real concern over whether Bolsonaro and his most radical followers will accept the vote.

"I think we are facing a few potentially tense days and weeks," says Stuenkel. But while the world waits to hear whether Bolsonaro will accept the result or contest it, as he has often threatened to do, one thing is for certain: this is good news for democracy, says Stuenkel.

"Bolsonaro had over the past four years sought to undermine checks and balances and put increasing pressure on the judiciary and civil society," he says. "In that sense, particularly for other democracies around the world, his victory is unambiguously good news, particularly at a time of democratic regression."

While Lula may be the same politician, he will be leading a Brazil that's very different - and much more divided - than the one he took control of 20 years ago. And it comes at a time of deep economic hardship.

Not only that, but as Bolsonaro steps aside - one hopes - his legacy will remain in Congress and regional politics. Lula will have to contend with conservative lawmakers in whatever he wants to do.

Will Lula once again be the saviour of Brazil that many of his supporters still see him as? On Sunday evening on Avenida Paulista, they were hopeful.

"It's time to go, Bolsonaro," they chanted. Lula's back - and he's here to change Brazil.

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2022-10-31 05:16:51Z
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Minggu, 30 Oktober 2022

Brazil election: Bolsonaro vs Lula in showdown for president - Al Jazeera English

Brazilians began a tense wait for results of their down-to-the-wire presidential runoff election after voting closed in the divisive showdown between incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Lula’s Workers’ Party (PT) cried foul on Sunday over police roadblocks it alleged were aimed at suppressing votes in his strongholds, especially the impoverished northeast.

With 80.9 percent of voting machines counted, Lula had 50.3 percent of the vote compared with 49.7 percent for Bolsonaro, the Superior Electoral Court reported on its website.

Lula, who was president from 2003 to 2010, won the first round on October 2, but by a much smaller margin than expected by pollsters. Sunday’s race is considered wide open.

Bolsonaro was first in line to cast his vote at a military complex in Rio de Janeiro. He sported the green-and-yellow colours of the Brazilian flag that always feature at his rallies.

“I’m expecting our victory, for the good of Brazil,” he told reporters. “God willing, Brazil will be victorious today.”

Lula voted in Sao Bernardo do Campo, the southeastern city where he got his start as a union leader, wearing a white guayabera-style shirt and surrounded by white-clad allies.

He said he was “confident in the victory of democracy” and he would seek to “restore peace” in a divided nation if elected.

Sunday’s runoff election caps a dirty and divisive campaign that has left the nation of 215 million people deeply split between supporters of conservative ex-army captain Bolsonaro, those of charismatic ex-metalworker Lula – and many others more or less equally disgusted by both.

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro greets supporters during a campaign rally on Saturday [Yuri Laurindo/AP]

Lula, 77, narrowly won the first-round election on October 2, and enters the finale the slight favourite with 52 percent of voter support to 48 percent for Bolsonaro, according to a final poll from the Datafolha Institute.

However, Bolsonaro, 67, performed better than expected last time around, and the result this time is anyone’s guess.

With Bolsonaro stickers on her chest, Rio de Janeiro resident Ana Maria Vieira said she was certain to vote for the president, and would never countenance picking Lula.

“I saw what Lula and his criminal gang did to this country,” she said, as she arrived to vote in Rio’s Copacabana neighbourhood, adding she thought Bolsonaro’s handling of the economy had been “fantastic”.

At the same polling station, Antonia Cordeiro, 49, said she just voted for Lula.

Bolsonaro had only worried about the concerns of the rich, at least until the final days of the campaign when he rolled out poverty-busting measures to win votes, said Cordeiro.

“We can’t continue with Bolsonaro. He hasn’t worked.”

Police roadblocks

Candidates in Brazil who top the first round tend to win the runoff. But political scientist Rodrigo Prando said this campaign is so atypical that a Bolsonaro win could not be ruled out. The president secured endorsements from governors of the three most populous states and his allies scored big wins in congressional races.

“Politically, Bolsonaro is stronger than had been imagined,” said Prando, a professor at Mackenzie Presbyterian University in Sao Paulo. “Mathematically, Lula is in front.”

Brazil’s election chief announced the lifting of traffic police roadblocks that had “delayed” voters after the blockages led to an outcry.

“A decision was taken to end these operations to avoid the delay of voters,” top electoral judge Alexandre de Moraes told a press conference.

Leaders of the PT shared numerous videos on social media of buses carrying voters stopped at the roadblocks, mainly in the electoral stronghold of Lula, who said “what is happening in the northeast is unacceptable”.

Al Jazeera’s Monica Yanakiew, reporting from Rio de Janeiro, said heated debates were taking place among people lining up at one polling station.

Some supporters of Bolsonaro said the president should be elected as he is a defender of family and Christian values, said Yanakiew, while Lula’s voters insisted the former leader was the only one defending the poor.

“We are standing in an area which is traditionally composed by Lula voters as this is a big favela where people are poor and usually voting for Lula, but it’s interesting to see this division which shows how this is a very tight race where results are very undefined.”

The mood in Latin America’s largest country is divided after an extremely hard-fought election campaign.

Bolsonaro has repeatedly cast doubt on the electoral system and hinted he might not recognise the result if he loses. The election is also receiving international attention. As a huge carbon reservoir, the Amazon rainforest plays an important role in the fight against global climate change.

In addition, Brazil has enormous natural resources and a large agricultural economy, making it an important player in international trade.

Lula has appealed to Brazilians to elect him to help “rebuild and transform” the country after four years under Bolsonaro. He has pledged to support low-income citizens and reinstate environmental protection policies, especially in the Amazon, which has seen a surge in deforestation and increased attacks against Indigenous people in recent years.

Bolsonaro, whose mantra is “God, family, country”, has announced new support programmes for poor Brazilians while promoting economic development and promising to tackle crime and corruption. He also has stressed conservative values, including his opposition to legalised abortion and drugs while falsely warning that Lula’s return would lead to the persecution of churches.

Lula’s campaign is about the past; that is its biggest strength and biggest weakness,” said Brian Winter, vice president for policy at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas.

“It is the memory of boom years of the 2000s that makes people want to vote for him. But his unwillingness or inability to articulate new ideas and bring in fresh faces has left him somewhat helpless as Bolsonaro closes the gap.”

Typically, support for Lula and his Workers’ Party has come from working-class Brazilians and rural areas. Bolsonaro has the backing of conservatives, evangelical Christians – a key voting bloc – and business interests.

Election watchers will be paying close attention to what happens in Minas Gerais, an inland state in Brazil’s southeast that is considered “a micro-sample of the Brazilian electorate”, Al Jazeera’s Latin America editor Lucia Newman reported this week.

“If this race is as tight as most predict, every single vote will count, especially here in Minas Gerais, where no Brazilian president has ever won without winning the state,” Newman said.

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2022-10-30 21:45:00Z
1626826790

India bridge collapse: Hundreds plunged into river and dozens killed in Gujarat - BBC

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At least 78 people have died after a pedestrian bridge collapsed in India's western state of Gujarat.

Hundreds of people were plunged into River Macchu in Morbi town. Local footage shows survivors hanging off the partly-submerged suspension bridge.

Reports say as many as 400 people were on the structure at the time. More than 80 people have been rescued, said Brijesh Merja, a state minister.

The incident comes just days after the bridge was reopened following repairs.

The 230-metre (754 feet) colonial-era crossing was built during British rule of India in the 19th Century. Known locally as a Julto Pool, it is a popular tourist attraction in the area.

Sunday's accident occurred at around 18:40 (13:10 GMT).

One witness told Reuters news agency that there were many children on the pedestrian bridge when it collapsed.

Prateek Vasava was one of those on the bridge at the time. He told 24 Hours Gujarati-language news channel how he swam to the river bank after falling into the water.

Several children fell into the river, he said, adding: "I wanted to pull some of them along with me but they had drowned or got swept away."

Videos show scenes of chaos as onlookers on the river banks attempt to rescue those trapped in the water as darkness fell.

Another video shows people climbing up netted wire remains of the bridge to escape the water.

Emergency responders from neighbouring districts have been sent to help with rescue efforts, which are continuing through the night.

It is not clear what caused the bridge to collapse, but local authorities have suggested there was overcrowding because of holidays for the Diwali festival.

Videos circulating on social media show the footbridge swaying in the daytime crowded with pedestrians.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in his home state of Gujarat on a three-day visit, said he was "deeply saddened by the tragedy".

Mr Modi has announced compensation for the injured, as well as the next of kin of those who have died.

Maps shows location of the suspension bridge in Morbi town, Gujarat
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2022-10-30 19:58:15Z
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Sabtu, 29 Oktober 2022

At least 100 killed and 300 injured as Somalia's capital hit by two explosions - Sky News

At least 100 people have been killed and 300 injured after two explosions rocked the capital of Somalia in what appears to be an ongoing attack on the country's education ministry.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud confirmed the death toll in a statement on Sunday as he visited the site of the blasts outside the education ministry in Mogadishu.

"Our people who were massacred... included mothers with their children in their arms, fathers who had medical conditions, students who were sent to study, businessmen who were struggling with the lives of their families," he said.

The attack occurred in a busy area that houses several key government offices, and on a day when the nation's president, prime minister and other senior officials were meeting to discuss violent extremism.

The leaders were expected to pay particular attention to a known extremist group affiliated with al Qaeda called al Shabaab.

Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the explosions at Zobe junction, which are understood to have been caused by car bombs.

The first of the explosions struck the education ministry near a busy junction in Mogadishu, while the second occurred as ambulances attended the scene and people gathered to help the victims.

More on Somalia

The blast wave smashed windows in the vicinity - as blood covered the tarmac just outside the building.

State news agency, SONNA, said the blasts had caused "scores of civilian casualties, including independent journalist Mohamed Isse Kona".

Reuters reported that witnesses had seen windows blown out of nearby buildings, and burnt out ambulances that were destroyed in the second blast.

"Two car bombs targeted the education ministry building along K5 street," local resident, Ahmed Nur told the news agency.

"The second blast burnt our ambulance as we came to transport the casualty from the first blast," Abdikadir Abdirahman, founder of the Aamin Ambulance Service, added.

A view shows smoke rising following a car bomb explosion at Somalia's education ministry in Mogadishu, Somalia October 29, 2022 in this picture obtained from social media. Abdihalim Bashir/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.
Image: Pic: Abdihalim Bashir/via REUTERS
A general view shows the scene of an explosion near the education ministry building along K5 street in Mogadishu, Somalia October 29, 2022. REUTERS/Feisal Omar

Who are al Shabaab?

Al Shabaab often targets the capital with attacks on high-profile locations that begin with explosions and continue with gunmen entering and battling security teams.

The group stormed the education ministry in 2015, and the latest attack occurred at the scene of a massive al Shabaab blast in 2017, which killed more than 500 people.

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The group emerged as the radical wing of Somalia's Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which no longer exists, and declared allegiance to al Qaeda in 2012.

Al Shabaab is viewed by the UK as a terrorist organisation.

Somalia's government is engaged in a new offensive against the extremist group, which has been described by the US as of one of al Qaeda's deadliest affiliates.

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2022-10-30 04:41:15Z
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Itaewon crowd crush: Horror as more than 150 die in Seoul district - BBC

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At least 151 people have died in a crush as huge Halloween crowds surged into a narrow street in South Korea's capital, Seoul, officials say.

At least 82 were injured in the incident in the Itaewon nightlife area which was holding its first unmasked Halloween celebrations since Covid.

Reports describe a desperate scene of people caught up in the crush piling on top of each other.

Most of the dead were teenagers or in their 20s. Nineteen were foreigners.

The cause of the disaster is still being established.

After holding an emergency meeting, South Korea's President, Yoon Suk-yeol, ordered a task force to be set up to help treat the injured. He also launched an investigation into the cause of the crush.

With the death toll as it stands, this is the deadliest disaster in South Korea since 2014, when the Sewol ferry sank killing more than 300 people.

Itaewon is one of the most popular neighbourhoods in Seoul for a night out. Locals and foreigners flock there every weekend, but Halloween is one of the busiest nights of the year.

An estimated 100,000 people came to celebrate there on Saturday to mark the first Halloween since the start of the pandemic where gathering sizes were not limited and people did not need to wear masks outside.

The crush appears to have started in a narrow, sloped alleyway that was overcrowded with people. Pictures and videos on social media show the alley was so densely packed, people were unable to move. One video shows people struggling to breathe. In another, emergency responders try to pull out people from what appears to be a pile of bodies. Cries of distress can be heard.

Bodies were lined up along the street covered in blue blankets. Others were carried, lifeless, into ambulances. Members of the public desperately administered CPR to those who were lying unconscious, along with hundreds of emergency workers who were sent in from around the country to help.

Relatives and friends of missing people have been turning up at the scene this morning looking for clues to reveal whether their loved ones were there.

But the bodies have been moved from the street into a gymnasium, for family members to come and identify them. With so many victims, this is expected to take time and is the authorities' immediate priority.

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Jeon Ga-eul, 30, was having a drink at a bar at the moment the crush began.

"My friend said: something terrible is happening outside," she told AFP news agency. "I said: what are you talking about? And then I went outside to see and there were people doing CPR in the street."

BBC map

A doctor who administered first aid at the scene said that when he had first started performing CPR there were two victims but "the number exploded soon after, outnumbering the first responders".

Social media messages posted earlier in the evening showed some people remarking that the Itaewon area was so crowded that it felt unsafe.

One witness, Park Jung-Hoon, told Reuters news agency that big crowds were normal for Christmas and fireworks celebration but "this was several ten-folds bigger than any of that".

A local journalist said that an emergency broadcast had been sent to every mobile phone in the Yongsan District urging citizens to return home as soon as possible due to "an emergency accident near Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon".

The attention will likely shift to the safety standards and crowd control measures in place at these occasions. President Yoon has already called for a review of the safety of festivity sites.

Several world leaders have expressed their condolences. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron said their thoughts were with the people of South Korea.

The EU's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said he was deeply saddened and the US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, pledged American support.

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2022-10-30 02:07:42Z
1632462040

Itaewon crowd crush: Horror as nearly 150 die in Seoul district - BBC

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At least 149 people have died in a crush as huge Halloween crowds surged into a narrow street in South Korea's capital, Seoul, officials say.

At least 76 were injured in the incident in the Itaewon nightlife area which was holding its first unmasked Halloween celebrations since Covid.

Reports describe a desperate scene of people caught up in the crush piling on top of each other.

The cause of the disaster is still being investigated.

After holding an emergency meeting, South Korea's President, Yoon Suk-yeol, ordered a task force to be set up to help treat the injured.

He also launched an investigation into the cause of the crush.

Several world leaders have expressed their condolences. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron said their thoughts were with the people of South Korea.

The EU's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said he was deeply saddened and the US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, pledged American support.

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While Halloween is not a big celebration in South Korea overall, Itaewon, a district with an international cultural feel, would have been a peak party location for the festival on Saturday.

Many young people were there, some of them dressed in Halloween costumes, out to party and go clubbing.

Instead, the area descended into chaos and people were left distraught and grieving as victims lay under blue sheets and emergency services did their work.

Videos from Itaewon show body bags placed on the streets, emergency workers performing CPR, and rescuers trying to pull out people trapped beneath others.

Jeon Ga-eul, 30, was having a drink at a bar at the moment the crush began.

"My friend said: something terrible is happening outside," she told AFP news agency. "I said: what are you talking about? And then I went outside to see and there were people doing CPR in the street."

Most of the dead were in their teens or 20s, said Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul's Yongsan fire department. Of the injured, 19 were seriously hurt and 57 lightly.

Two foreign nationals are among the dead and 15 foreigners were injured, he added.

The high number of casualties was a result of "many being trampled", the fire chief said.

BBC map

One video appears to show hundreds of people packed tightly together in a narrow, sloping road in the district. In another, emergency responders try to pull out people from what appears to be a pile of bodies. Cries of distress can be heard.

Bodies were being sent to nearby gyms and hospitals to be identified by family members.

All available emergency responders in Seoul have been mobilised, according to the National Fire agency.

A doctor who administered first aid at the scene said that when he had first started performing CPR there were two victims but "the number exploded soon after, outnumbering the first responders".

Some 100,000 revellers are said to have been in the area on Saturday evening.

Social media messages posted earlier in the evening showed some people remarking that the Itaewon area was so crowded that it felt unsafe.

One witness, Park Jung-Hoon, told Reuters news agency that big crowds were normal for Christmas and fireworks celebration but "this was several ten-folds bigger than any of that".

A local journalist said that an emergency broadcast had been sent to every mobile phone in the Yongsan District urging citizens to return home as soon as possible due to "an emergency accident near Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon".

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2022-10-29 22:51:57Z
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