LIVE UPDATES: Crowds increase for Halloween in Seoul

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Photo of a street in Itaewon filled with people in Seoul on Saturday night.

If you are in a crowd and people are close enough to bump into you, it can be very crowded.

That’s according to J. Keith Steele, visiting professor of crowd sciences at the University of Suffolk and chair of the GKStill Internationala consulting firm that trains event organizers on how to spot danger.

Such events, like A visible crowd at the crowded Halloween festivities in the South Korean capital, Seoul and the Tragedy At the Astroworld Festival in Houston in November 2021, it resulted in many deaths and injuries.

However, who has been studying the dynamics of crowd behavior and safety for more than 30 years, said organizers can help prevent crashes by monitoring crowd density in real time and regulating the flow of people to the venue.

Crowd density can be calculated as the number of people per square meter, about a square yard. Younger, younger people take up less space than older and larger people, but as a general rule, things get uncomfortable once you get to five people per square meter, he still said — and anything more crowded can become dangerous.

“When the objects come into contact, this high energy and density can cause these surges and crowd collapses,” Steele said.

One sign that the crowd has become too dense is what is still called the “wheat field of effect,” where people sway uncontrollably. He said a visual example on the Internet Videos From a 2005 Oasis concert in Manchester, England, before a massive rush of audiences towards the stage.

The key to preventing a disaster, Steele said, is for regulators to monitor the density, and if it begins to rise, slow or stop the flow of people entering the area. He said it is very difficult to reduce congestion once the situation becomes very intense.

Steele said that if the venue becomes too crowded, the performers should stop and ask everyone to take a step back. Over the years, many artists, including A$AP Rocky and Linkin Park, They did exactly that.

If you’re in a crowd, you can still help yourself stay safe by keeping an eye on areas that are likely to become very crowded, and getting out of the crowd if you don’t have enough personal space.

You can learn more by viewing the interactive drawing over here.