Chinese New Year’s Eve stampede kills at least 35, injures 43
Multiple people were killed or injured just 25 minutes before the clock struck midnight, Chinese state media reports.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
YOUKUNew Year celebrations in the Bund area went astray late Wednesday as a stampede resulted in casualties in east China's Shanghai.
Atleast 35 people were killed and 43 injured in a New Year’s Eve stampede in Shanghai, China, according to Chinese state media reports.
The chaos at Chenyi Square in Shanghai’s Huangpu district broke out 25 minutes before midnight local time, government television CCTV reported. The cause is under investigation.
Emergency responders resuscitated celebration-goers in the hectic, packed Bund area, social media pictures show. One picture shows a man receiving chest compressions as debris and people lay on the ground around him. Ambulances struggled to get through the massive crowd.
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Injured people were being moved to numerous Shanghai hospitals, including Changzheng Hospital and the First People's Hospital, Xinhua news reported. 42 people were initially reported injured, and the tally grew to 43 a couple hours later.
The majority of victims were students, local Sina News reported.
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Officials held a city-wide emergency meeting Thursday morning. Shanghai Communist Party Secretary Han Zheng and Mayor Yang Xiong visited the injured in the early hours, according to the government's account on social media site Weibo.
After crowd control issues at the last three celebrations in the popular riverfront Bund area and its narrow streets, the city canceled its annual 3D laser show. More than 300,000 people attended last year's celebration.
A "toned-down" version of the laser show was not open to the public, the Shanghai Daily reported.
The city planned to have smaller crowds dispersed throughout the city where more than 24 million people live, the Independent reported.
