“Dad, I’m going out” have been the final phrases Jung Hae-moon heard his daughter utter, on the finish of a chat they’d on the phone on Saturday as she turned down an invite to dinner. Hours later, 30-year-old Jung Joo-hee was amongst 156 individuals, most of them of their teenagers and twenties, killed within the South Korean capital whereas celebrating Halloween freed from COVID restrictions for the primary time in three years.

On Thursday, the younger lady’s household buried her ashes in a peaceable household plot exterior Seoul, with a planted sapling and bouquets by her grave stone and a sombre ceremony of prayers and tears. “Rest well. Mum and dad will come see you,” Jung Hae-moon stated because the household stood by, collectively along with his daughter’s pet poodle.

As information of the catastrophe unfolded on Saturday, Jung Hae-moon dashed to Itaewon, a district of slender streets filled with bars and boutiques, to be met with chaos as distraught children milled about of their Halloween costumes and rows of ambulances collected victims. More than 12 hours later, he discovered Joo-hee in a morgue, lifeless, swollen and bruised.

Joo-hee’s mom, Lee Hyo-sook, stated her daughter was a delight, a finest good friend who cherished animals and wine. “The space she leaves is too big. The place she left in the family is too much, the emptiness,” Lee advised Reuters after the funeral, talking at a restaurant that Joo-hee ran.

The cafe is closed with an indication in black studying: “In mourning.” The anguish of Joo-hee’s household is being felt by the entire 156 bereaved households as a conventional three-day wake involves an finish and their cherished one is positioned in a coffin to be seen for the final time earlier than burial or cremation.

Their grief is being shared by the nation as a complete struggling to return to phrases with the catastrophe that ended so many younger lives on what ought to have been a night of enjoyable. Of the 156 lifeless, 101 have been feminine, the federal government stated.

Another grieving father, Song Jae-woong, stated his daughter, Young-ju, 24, was a mild soul who was fast to befriend classmates, greater than 200 of whom got here to her funeral. Young-ju had dreamed of changing into an actress, her father stated, talking at a funeral residence in Seoul.

“Then, things turned out like this,” Song stated. “Her friends told me that my daughter had a habit of seeking out and befriending anyone. She had a kind soul.”

“It’s all over now.” ‘IMPOSSIBLE’

Some households had no concept their kids have been even within the crowd within the Itaewon leisure district on Saturday night. “I had no idea she was there. It was impossible, I couldn’t believe it,” Lim’s father stated at a funeral residence as he and his household noticed funeral rites.

The father requested that he and his daughter be recognized by simply their household title, Lim. The man often lives overseas and had not seen their solely youngster for 3 years as COVID disrupted journey. He first heard of the catastrophe when an acquaintance despatched him a textual content message about it, with neither figuring out the daughter was caught up in it.

Struggling with grief, he pulled out his phone to indicate the message. “She was so creative and pretty,” the person stated, including that he had usually strolled along with his daughter by Itaewon. He used to park their automotive on the Hamilton Hotel subsequent to the alley the place Lim died.

“I know that street very well.” For many dad and mom, anger is seething with the grief.

They surprise why their kids have been celebrating Halloween within the first place, a completely international idea for older Koreans. But the largest query for a lot of of these mourning their kids is why no security measures have been enforced to manage the gang.

“I am beyond angry. It is outrageous because in any emergency situation, the country should protect its people and keep them safe,” stated Lee, the mom of Joo-hee.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse workers and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)