UK student dies at Halloween gathering in South Korea
by: Matthew Duckworth
Posted: Oct 30, 2022 / 03:04 PM EDT
Updated: Oct 31, 2022 / 08:57 PM EDT
LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) – A University of Kentucky student died in Seoul, South Korea, over the weekend.
UK President Eli Capilouto announced on Sunday that Anne Gieske, a nursing junior from northern Kentucky, was studying abroad in South Korea when she died at a traditional Halloween gathering.
Gieske was one of more than 150 people who died as a crowd of more than 100,000 people came together to attend the Halloween event when the crowd was said to have surged into a crush of people.
A crowd crush is described as an event in which a crowd of people becomes dangerously overpopulated, which could cause the crowd to collapse in on itself.
According to Capilouto, details of what happened and why are still unfolding. He also did confirm the University has made contact with Gieske's family and support will be provided for her family as well as any students in need of support.
The Hill reported that Gieske is the niece of Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) who issued a statement on Monday: "Monica and I, and our entire family, are grieving the loss of our niece Anne Marie Gieske. She was a gift from God to our family. We loved her so much."
In addition, her parents, Dan and Madonna Gieske, asked for prayers and privacy as they grieve the loss of Anne.
"She was a bright light loved by all," the parents said in a statement. "Anne's final gift to us was dying in the state of sanctifying grace. We know we will one day be reunited with her in God's kingdom."
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