The last images of the two American exchange students who sadly perished in the South Korean Halloween stampede have surfaced, with one victim’s congressman uncle describing her as “a gift from God to our family.”
Just hours before they died in the crush on October 29, Anne Gieske, 20, and Steven Blesi, also 20, uploaded happy selfies taken while hiking at Hallasan volcano.
Gieske, a junior enrolled in the University of Kentucky’s nursing school, had her birthday on Friday and was a congressman’s niece.
It has since come to light that Seoul police only assigned 137 officers to control the crowd of more than 100,000 Halloween revelers.
Gieske and Blesi were both participating in study abroad programs through their respective universities.
A fatal stampede was started when the throng at the Halloween event on Saturday night turned unruly and pushed.
An estimated 100,000 people attended the South Korean event.
Dan and Madonna Gieske, Gieske’s parents, expressed their shock and heartbreak over Anne Marie’s passing. She was a shining star that everyone adored.
