Crowd surging – the deadly phenomenon that claimed more than 150 lives in South Korea – is explained by simple physics, an expert told Insider.
On Saturday, at least 154 people were killed in SeoulA Halloween street party caused a large crowd to become so dense that it nearly crushed people to death.
The Seoul neighborhood of Itaewon, which is known for its nightlife scene, was the location of the crush. It attracted many thousands of people on Saturday. The Guardian reported.
There were no events planned., per Reuters. Crowds of people from busy bars and nightclubs filled a narrow, sloped alley that connected a subway station to a main road.
The street was overcrowded at 10 p.m. Reuters compiled the social-media accounts and reported that people at the top of the alley lost their feet and fell into the crowds below. This led to a fatal crush.
South Korea’s tragedy caused national mourning and raised questions about whether there could have been more to stop it.
Medhi Moussaïd, a research scientist at the Max Plank Institute in Berlin who studies crowd dynamics, spoke to Insider about when crowding turns deadly
He stated that “most people don’t realize the danger” and that cities are becoming more dense and people with large numbers will need to be educated.
Crowds acting as waves
A simple principle drives crowd surging. If a group of people becomes dense enough – more than six or seven people per square yard – a crowd starts acting like a fluid.
This is when the people within lose their ability to control their movement.
Pushing someone will cause them to push their neighbor who in turn will fall on their neighbor.
“Then this movement is transmitted,” Moussaïd said. It is almost like a ripple of water. As these movements spread they become larger.
People can feel too much pressure from the wave, especially if they are forced into obstacles. It can even be fatal, as seen in Seoul.
“These waves are dangerous because people can be compressed against walls and against each other. And whenever two waves cross, people can feel the pressure from both sides,” said Moussaïd.
What to do if your crush is you?
Crowded events are usually safe in the vast majority of cases. But Moussaïd listed some things that could help if things ever turn dangerous.
Awareness is the most important thing. If you feel overwhelmed, it’s likely that you are right. It is a good idea to move quickly to a quieter area. This will protect you from the pressure and help others.
He stated that if a small number of people begin to do this, it reduces the density which solves the problem.
The pushing wave can grow quickly once the crowd has reached that threshold. Then it is a case of survival, said Moussaïd.
“Don’t resist the pulling wave if it is causing you to feel overwhelmed. Keep your balance and go with the flow.
Do your best to keep standing. A wave of people will fall if one person falls. The weight of the bodies above will likely cause the people at the bottom to be crushed.
To help you breathe easier, raise your arms high against your chest like a boxer. People can faint or fall from the pressure of the wave.
Do not resist the flow of people. If you push back, the pressure in the system will grow, which will make the situation worse for the next couple of seconds to minutes, Moussaïd said.
Information is crucial
This is not the first instance of crowd surge that has led to death. Previous examples In Germany, 18 people died in the Love Parade 2010.And Eight people were killed at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival, Houston, last year..
Proper planning is key to reducing the risk of events such as these. Make sure that not too many people gather at once.
But Moussaïd said the event in Seoul was different because it was a spontaneous gathering in the streets. It would have been difficult to prepare.
According to Reuters officials had anticipated a crowd of approximately 100,000, but didn’t believe the area required any more planning than a normal Halloween weekend.
“Many people gather at Halloween every year,” stated an unnamed woman, who said she lived nearby to Reuters.
She said, “But there were just as many last night than before COVID,”
As the world population grows and more and more people are packed into urban areas, this could happen more often, said Moussaïd.
“An easy solution would be to let people know that crowds are dangerous.”
This article was originally published in Business Insider.
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