to run about frantically trying to escape; to run this way and that to make one's escape
地震で人々が逃げ惑った。
People ran about frantically trying to escape when the earthquake struck.
煙が充満し、人々が逃げ惑っている。
Smoke is filling the building, and people are running about frantically trying to escape.
落城する中、兵士たちは逃げ惑うばかりだ。
As the fortress falls, the soldiers can only run about frantically trying to escape.