Jakarta. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said on Sunday he is saddened by the deadly crush in Seoul that killed at least 153 people during a Halloween event that attracted a huge crowd at a nightlife spot in the capital city.

The tragic incident on Saturday night occurred 28 days after at least 134 people died in a football stadium crush in the Indonesian town of Malang.

"Deeply saddened to learn about the tragic stampede in Seoul. My deepest condolences to those who lost their loved ones. Indonesia mourns with the people of South Korea and wishes those injured a speedy recovery," the president said on Twitter.

The BBC reported that the crush happened in the district of Itaewon where about 100,000 people had gathered for the first event since Covid where crowd sizes were not limited.

Most of the victims were teenagers and young adults who were fatally crushed or trampled in a narrow alley. 

Of those killed, at least 97 were female.

The incident also killed 20 foreign nationals from Australia, Austria, China, France, Iran, Kazakhstan, Norway, Russia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United States, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. 

The stampede marked the worst tragedy in South Korea since the 2014 sinking of the ferry Sewol that killed 304 people, mostly high school students, Yonhap News Agency reported.