South Korea stampede by Reuters

The Itaewon district in South Korea’s capital is known to revelers as a place of fun, freedom and openness. But its narrow, steep streets and tight access points proved a lethal mix for Halloween partygoers who became trapped in a crowd crush that left more than 150 people dead on October, 29.

This Reuters visual investigation revealed the crowd crush was hours in the making, leaving police facing questions over their slow response. The piece visualises crowd densities, charts police call logs, and explains exactly how events unfolded on the night.

The graphics-driven account of the tragedy was pieced together from the testimony of witnesses, police transcripts, visual evidence and open-source material shared on social media that was verified by Reuters.