Young Sydney film production assistant Grace Rached has been identified as the Australian victim of a deadly Halloween crowd crush in South Korea.
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Australian officials confirmed one Australian had died during the weekend tragedy in the Itaewon district of Seoul that killed more than 150 people.
A NSW Department of Education spokesperson told AAP they were deeply saddened to hear about the tragic death of the 23-year-old, who was a former student of Canterbury Girls High in Sydney's southwest.
"Our sincere condolences and deepest sympathies go to the student's family and the broader school community," the spokesperson said.
"The school will be providing counselling and support for all affected students and staff."
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it had been notified of one Australian's death in Seoul on Saturday night and consular officials are providing assistance to the victim's family.
Ms Rached was working as production assistant at Singapore-based film and media company ElectricLime, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She had been with the company for the last 15 months, had previously worked at smaller production companies, and had volunteered for Sydney short film festival Tropfest.
She had studied at the University of Technology in Sydney, completing a Bachelor of Communications and International Studies.
A friend of Ms Rached, Nathan Taverniti, said one of his friends had been killed in the crowd crush, and two others were in a critical condition.
"There was no stampede. It was a slow and agonising crush," a tearful Mr Taverniti said on TikTok.
"This crush was not caused by drunk people. It was caused by a lack of planning, police force and emergency services."
Acacia Elizabeth Gib wrote on Ms Rached's TikTok page: "Rest in peace beautiful. My heart is breaking for you and your family."
Another TikTok user, Mandy, wrote on her profile: "I'm glad you were living your best life before it was tragically taken away."
Ms Rached's last post on the short video site showed her holidaying in Bali, and was captioned, "Thanks Bali, you were a blast".
The tragedy struck as a large crowd gathered to celebrate Halloween on Saturday night, and a throng of people surged into an alleyway near a nightclub area.
The area is popular with young people, expatriates and travellers.
"Our sincere condolences for all affected by this terrible tragedy," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tweeted on Sunday before news broke of the Australian's death.
Australian Associated Press
