Two men place candles in the shape of a heart at the site of a New Year’s Eve stampede at The Bund in Shanghai on January 1, 2015. AFP PHOTO / Greg BAKER

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At least 36 people are dead, and 47 injured during a New Year’s celebration on the Bund, a waterfront area in central Shanghai.

Emergency teams and police tried to save as many people as they could during a deadly stampede that begat at 11:35 p.m. local time. Police rushed to the scene and began to take the injured to nearby hospitals and formed a human chain to create a room for the injured to receive treatment.

According to Shanghai Rescue authorities, many of those at the Bund were young students, as were many of the dead.

Distraught relatives waited in the hospital lobbies for news of their loved ones.

Sina News reported that masses of crowds in Chen Yi Square on the Bund led to the stampede. The cause of the accident is still under investigation, but the Eastday news portal in Shanghai interviewed an eyewitness to the stampede named Wu Tao, from neighboring Anhui province, who said that the stampede began when some people threw fake promotional money from the windows of luxury club called Bund No. 18 in Shanghai.

However after watching videos, Shanghai Police deny that the stampede was caused by “coupon-throwing.”

After the accident, local hospitals sent ambulances to the scene and transported the injured people to emergency rooms.

Officials of the Shanghai Municipal Commission held their first press conference at the Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, reporting the latest development of the medical treatment given to patients injured during the stampede.

“By 11:00 Thursday, 36 people were reported to have died and 47 other people were injured. Seven people who were slightly injured have already left the hospital. The remaining 40 people are accepting medical treatment in hospital. Of the injured, 33 people have been identified. The patients are mainly young people, with 12 males and 28 females. Of the 40 injured, 27 have minor injuries and the 13 others were severely injured and are in critical condition,” said Wu.

CCTV News reporter Xu Zhaoqun reported this story from Shanghai.

Relatives mourn Shanghai stampede victims Emergency teams and police tried to save as many people as they could during a deadly stampede that begat at 11:35 p.m. local time. Police rushed to the scene and began to take the injured to nearby hospitals and formed a human chain to create a room for the injured to receive treatment.

Photos posted on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, showed the chaos.

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At the news conference, the director of the Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Zheng Xingdong, introduced patients’ conditions in the hospital.

“Our hospital received a total of 18 injured people. Six are badly injured, and three of them are still in critical condition. The injuries include traumatic asphyxia, soft tissue damage on four limbs and upper-abdominal crush injuries. Currently 10 patients are receiving medical treatment in our hospital and one is under observation. The other seven slightly injured patients have left the hospital after medical treatment,” said Zheng Xingdong, director of the Shanghai Changzheng Hospital.

Local officials in Shanghai visited the patients in hospitals injured in a tragic stampede that killed 36 people and injured 47 during the New Year’s Eve celebration at Shanghai’s Bund area Wednesday. An emergency meeting was held to ensure stepped-up safety measures were taken throughout the city.

VIDEOS OF AFTERMATH



Video credit: YouKu/ThePaper.Cn

Shanghai stampede aftermath At least 35 people are dead, and 42 are injured during a New Year’s celebration on the Bund, a waterfront area in central Shanghai.

Han Zheng, secretary of the Communist Party of China Shanghai Municipal Committee and Yang Xiong, mayor of Shanghai Municipality, rushed to Shanghai Central Hospital right after the deadly stampede.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a statement tonight all efforts should be taken to treat the the injured, and that authorities should pay close attention to the aftermath and enhance the security measures to ensure people’s life and property safety during the holiday season.

The city’s annual New Year’s eve 3-D laser display on the Bund was cancelled this year, after taking place for the last three years, according to Shanghai Daily.

One week before the New Year, Shanghai authorities cancelled the event which attracted nearly 300,000 people last year, reportedly due to crowd control issues. A toned down version of the celebration was held at several locations in the city instead.

More than a day after the tragic events, many have lined up to lay flowers on the Bund to mourn those who died.

Photos posted on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, showed the chaos.

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Map shows Chen Yi Square near the Bund, a famous waterfront area in central Shanghai close to where the stampede occurred.