Second Australian victim dies two weeks after South Korean crowd crush

An Australian woman who died after she was crushed in a Halloween crowd in Seoul has been remembered as someone who took care of her family “even till her last breath”.

A second Australian victim of the South Korean Halloween crowd crush has succumbed to her injuries two weeks after the horrific event.

The woman’s sister has honoured her in a lengthy statement “in loving memory of her”.

“She has always looked out for others and put others‘ needs before hers,” she said.

“She was my best friend and second mother.”

The young woman is believed to have died in hospital bringing the death toll of the Itaewon crush in Seoul to 156.

“We know she is so deeply loved by so many people and it shows just how big her heart was,” her sister said.

“She will always be remembered as the loving, caring, wise, creative, expressive, gentle, and free-spirited soul she is.”

In the heartbreaking statement, her sister revealed how the 28-year-old passed away “peacefully in the presence of her immediate family” on November 13, and how she believed she cared for her family right up until the very end.

“Her life was changed overnight due to an incident that should not have happened,” she said.

“Her doctor said that it was a miracle that her heartbeat returned once in hospital and that she must have wanted to wait until her family could come see her before she said goodbye forever.”

“She is the most resilient person I have ever known, even till her last breath she took care of our family and allowed us to say goodbye.”

The young woman had travelled to Korea for a year “to pursue her dreams of starting her own label” and had only been in the country for three months, according to her sister.

“Watching her from afar as we were apart for the first time in our lives, I was so proud of her and I know she was learning to be proud of herself too.”

DFAT has confirmed to NCA Newswire that the second victim is an Australian national.

It comes after 23-year-old Grace Rached - who was 12 days shy of celebrating her 24th birthday - was killed while still stuck in the crush.

At 10pm local time on October 29, hundreds of young partygoers became trapped as the crowd crammed into a tight downhill street in the heart of the Itaewon party district.

Grace Rached (bottom right) pictured with friends Justina Cho, Kim Yerim (top left and right) and Nathan Taverniti (bottom left) in the hours before the crush. Picture: Instagram

Ms Rached was on holiday in South Korea with friends, including Nathan Taverniti, who took to TikTok in the hours after her death to share what he had witnessed.

“I was there when she said she couldn‘t breathe and I grabbed one of my friends’ hands,” Taverniti said between tears.

Friends Justina Cho and Kim Yerim were also there on that fateful night and were in a critical condition in hospital.

Grace Rached was identified as the first Australian killed in the Seoul crush. Picture: Instagram

Ms Rached’s family said she was a talented film producer who was passionate about making a difference.

“She cared deeply about her two sisters and was a wonderful role model. Grace showed us all what it meant to be an incredible human being,” they said.

”We will all deeply miss our beautiful Grace, our life of the party.”

Mr Taverniti said he believed the incident was avoidable and was a result of the local authorities not preparing adequately for the crowd.

“It was not a stampede, it was a slow, agonising crush,” he said.

Mr Taverniti said he believed the incident was avoidable. Picture: Facebook

“This crush was not caused by drunk people. It was lack of planning, police force and emergency services.

He said it took half an hour for police to arrive, another hour for reinforcements and even longer for other emergency services.

“Nobody was willing to help. I watched as people filmed and sang and laughed while my friends were dying, along with many other people,” he said.

“I was there trying to pull people out because there was not enough police officers and nobody was doing anything to make the crowd stop.

“We were yelling, we were saying “you have to go back, you have to turn around, people are dying”, but nobody was listening.

Mr Taverniti said it took half an hour for police to arrive. Picture: Facebook

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it impacted families in the “harshest way possible”. Picture: Instagram

“There were people lying on the ground getting CPR, not by health professionals, by random people, whoever could.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the tragedy has impacted Ms Rached’s family in the harshest way possible.

“These were people who were out celebrating Halloween, out to have a good time and to come home safely,” he said.

“This tragedy has impacted people in South Korea in particular. But it has also impacted, in the harshest way possible, one Australian family and other Australians who were hurt in this incident.