Injured people are helped at the street near the stampede scene in Seoul

Seoul: At least 120 people were killed and 100 more were injured as they were crushed by a large crowd pushing forward on a narrow street during Halloween festivities in the capital of Seoul, South Korean officials said.

Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul’s Yongsan fire department, said the death toll could rise and that an unspecified number among the injured were in critical conditions.

He said 74 of the dead have been sent to hospitals while the bodies of the remaining 46 who had been kept on the streets were being transported to a nearby gym so that workers could identify them.

Officials say it was believed that people were crushed to death after a large crowd began pushing forward in a narrow alley near Hamilton Hotel, a major party spot in Seoul.

At least 59 people were killed and 150 more were injured after being crushed by a large crowd pushing forward on a narrow street during Halloween festivities in the capital of Seoul, South Korean officials said.

Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul’s Yongsan fire department, said the death toll could rise as emergency workers were continuing to transport the injured to hospitals across Seoul following the stampede in the leisure district of Itaewon on Saturday night. He said 13 of the dead have been sent to hospitals while the bodies of the remaining 46 were still on the streets.

Officials say it was believed that people were crushed to death after a large crowd began pushing forward in a narrow alley near Hamilton Hotel, a major party spot in Seoul.

More than 400 emergency workers and 140 vehicles from around the nation, including all available personnel in Seoul, were deployed to the streets to treat the injured.

The National Fire Agency separately said in a statement that officials were still trying to determine the exact number of emergency patients.

TV footage and photos from the scene showed ambulance vehicles lined up in streets amid a heavy police presence and emergency workers moving the injured in stretchers. Emergency workers and pedestrians were also seen performing CPR on people lying in the streets.

In one section, paramedics were seen checking the status of a dozen or more people who lied motionless under blue blankets.

Police, which were restricting traffic in nearby areas to speed up the transportation of the injured to hospitals across the city, also confirmed that dozens of people were being given CPR on Itaewon streets. The Seoul Metropolitan Government issued emergency text messages urging people in the area to swiftly return home.

A local police officer said he was also informed that a stampede occurred on Itaewon’s streets where a crowd of people gathered for Halloween festivities. The officer requested anonymity, saying the details of the incident was still under investigation.

Some local media reports earlier said the crush happened after a large number of people rushed to an Itaewon bar after hearing an unidentified celebrity visited there.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a statement calling for officials to ensure swift treatment for those injured and review the safety of the festivity sites. He also instructed the Health Ministry to swiftly deploy disaster medical assistance teams and secure beds in nearby hospital to treat the injured.

Local media said around 100,000 people flocked to Itaewon streets for the Halloween festivities, which were the biggest since the start of the pandemic following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in recent months.

Manila: A strong earthquake rocked the northern Philppines late on Tuesday, but officials said no serious damage was expected and no tsunami warning was issued.

The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.4 quake was centered 16.2 kilometers (10 miles) below the surface about 11 kilometers (7 miles) from Dolores on Luzon island.

The US Tsunami Warning System said no warning or advisory was issued.

The quake was felt across a wide area of northern Luzon, but the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said it did not expect any major damage.

The Philippine archipelago lies on the “Pacific Ring of Fire,” a region along most of the Pacific Ocean rim where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur, making the Southeast Asian nation one of the world’s most disaster-prone.

In July, a magnitude 7 earthquake set off landslides and damaged buildings in the northern Philippines, killing at least five people and injuring dozens.

A magnitude 7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines in 1990.

New Delhi,: In a fresh advisory, the Indian embassy in Ukraine on Tuesday asked all Indians there to leave the country immediately in view of increasing hostilities.

The new advisory came less than a week after a similar advisory was issued following the deteriorating security situation in Ukraine.

“In continuation of the advisory issued by the embassy on October 19, all Indian citizens in Ukraine are advised to immediately leave Ukraine by available means,” the embassy said.

It said some Indian nationals have already left Ukraine pursuant to the earlier advisory.

The embassy has asked the Indian nationals to contact it for any guidance or assistance to travel to the Ukrainian border for exiting the country.

There has been an intensification of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine with Moscow carrying out retaliatory missile strikes targeting various Ukrainian cities in response to a huge blast in Crimea around three weeks back.

Moscow blamed Kyiv for the blast.

India has been pressing for a resolution of the conflict through diplomacy and dialogue.

LONDON: Rishi Sunak will on Tuesday be installed as Britain’s third prime minister this year, replacing the humiliated Liz Truss after just seven weeks and inheriting a daunting array of problems.

on Monday after rival contender Penny Mordaunt failed to secure enough nominations from Tory MPs, and Boris Johnson dramatically aborted a comeback bid.

The 42-year-old Hindu will be Britain’s first prime minister of colour and the youngest in more than two centuries.

Sunak will take power in a morning audience with King Charles III, who is anointing his first prime minister since ascending the throne just two days after his late mother Queen Elizabeth II appointed Truss.

The ceremony on September 6 was the last major public act of her record-breaking reign.

Truss will hold a final cabinet meeting before making a departing statement in Downing Street at around 10:15 am (0915 GMT), with Sunak expected to speak just over an hour later.

She leaves office as the shortest-serving premier in history, after a calamitous tax-slashing budget sparked economic and political turmoil.

The 47-year-old announced her Resigned last Thursday, admitting she could not deliver her “mandate” from Conservative members — who had chosen her over Sunak in the summer.

He has now staged a stunning turnaround in political fortunes, and vows to do the same for Britain as it confronts decades-high inflation, surging borrowing costs and imminent recession.

Addressing the public on Monday, Sunak promised “stability and unity” as well as bringing “our party and our country together”.

‘Choices‘ 
After delivering the now all-too-familiar new leader’s speech from the steps of Number 10 at around 11:35 am, Britain’s fifth prime minister in six years will start appointing his top team before facing his first session of “Prime Minister’s Questions” in parliament on Wednesday.

Finance minister Jeremy Hunt, appointed by Truss just 11 days ago in an ultimately futile bid to salvage her premiership, could remain in the role after stabilising the markets.

He endorsed Sunak on Sunday, writing in the Telegraph that he was a leader “willing to make the choices necessary for our long-term prosperity”.

Whoever heads the Treasury is set to unveil the government’s much-anticipated medium-term fiscal plans on October 31, Halloween, alongside independent assessments.

Sunak must also decide whether to appoint to his cabinet senior MPs who did not support him, such as Mordaunt, in a bid to unify his fractured party.

One so-called big beast unlikely to get a seat around the table is his former boss Johnson, who was driven out in July partly thanks to Sunak’s resignation.

The pair met late Saturday, when Johnson reportedly urged him to form a power-sharing partnership.

The ex-leader had only secured the public backing of a few dozen Tory MPs, compared to well over 100 for Sunak, and the offer was rebuffed.

A day later, Johnson bowed to political reality and announced he would not move forward with his audacious comeback.

“You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament,” he acknowledged.

‘No mandate’ 
Sunak, a wealthy descendant of immigrants from India and East Africa, is also facing calls for a general election after becoming the latest UK leader who lacks a direct mandate from the electorate.

Pollster Ipsos said Monday that 62 percent of voters want a vote by the end of the year.

“He has no mandate, no answers and no ideas,” Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner tweeted.

Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon, whose nationalist government wants to hold an independence referendum next year, echoed the comments — while recognising the significance of Britain getting its first leader of colour.

The next election is not due until January 2025 at the latest and opposition parties have no way to force one, unless dozens of Conservative MPs acquiesce.

That appears unlikely as a flurry of polls show Labour with its largest lead in decades.

YouGov modelling Monday showed Sunak faces an uphill battle to restore confidence in both the Tories and himself.

Weekend responses from 12,000 people found that Labour leader Keir Starmer was seen as the “best prime minister” in 389 constituencies, compared with Sunak’s 127.

former prime minister Imran Khan

Islamabad: In a major setback to former prime minister Imran Khan, Pakistan’s top election body on Friday disqualified him from holding public office for five years in the Toshakhana case for hiding proceeds from the sale of gifts he received from foreign leaders.

After the consensus ruling by a four-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman cannot become a member of the parliament for five years.

The decision was taken unanimously by the five-member bench. However, the member from Punjab was not present for the announcement.

The ruling coalition government lawmakers had filed a case with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in August against 70-year-old Khan seeking his disqualification for failing to reveal the proceeds from the sale of gifts that he purchased at a discounted price from the state repository, also called Toshakhana.

The ECP after hearing the case had reserved its judgment on September 19 on the conclusion of the proceedings.

The bench of the ECP on Friday unanimously ruled that Khan was involved in corrupt practices and was disqualified as a member of the parliament. It also announced that action would be taken against him under the corrupt practices laws.

Asad Umar, Secretary General of Khan’s party, announced that the decision would be challenged in the Islamabad High Court.

Fawad Chaudhry, another PTI leader, rejected the verdict and asked Khan’s followers to stage protests.

The ruling came days after Khan’s party on Monday swept the crucial by-elections, winning six out of eight National Assembly seats and two out of three provincial assembly seats.

Khan, who contested seven National Assembly seats in the crucial by-elections held on Sunday, emerged victorious in six constituencies.

Khan, who came to power in 2018, apparently received expensive gifts from rich Arab rulers during official visits, which were deposited in the Toshakhana. Later, he bought the same at a discounted price as per the relevant laws and sold the same at hefty profits.

Though morally apprehensive for rulers like Khan, who always takes a high moral ground and leaves no occasion to castigate his opponents as corrupt , the purchase and sale were legally allowed.

The former premier informed the ECP during the hearing that the sale of the gifts that he had procured from the state treasury after paying Rs 21.56 million fetched about Rs 58 million.

The gifts, among others, included a Graff wristwatch, a pair of cufflinks, an expensive pen, a ring and four Rolex watches.

According to his opponents, Khan failed to show the sales in the income tax returns, making him liable.

The case filed with the ECP seeks his disqualification under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution which suggests disqualification if someone is not truthful.

Established in 1974, the Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries.

Khan was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.

The cricketer-turned-politician, who came to power in 2018, is the only Pakistani Prime Minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament.