- Title: CHINA-STAMPEDE/AFTERMATH New Year's Eve stampede kills at least 35 in Shanghai
- Date: 1st January 2015
- Summary: SHANGHAI, CHINA (JANUARY 1, 2015) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (CCTV - NO ACCESS CHINA) VEHICLES WAITING FOR DIRECTIONS AT INTERSECTION NEXT TO THE BUND ROAD SIGN/AMBULANCES PARKED AT ROAD SIDE AMBULANCES DRIVING AWAY POLICE OFFICER DIRECTING TRAFFIC/POLICE OFFICERS STANDING NEXT TO MOTORBIKE PEOPLE WALKING ON SIDEWALK BICYCLE DESERTED ON ROADSIDE BROKEN ROAD BARRIER ON GROUND VARIOUS
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- Keywords:
- Location: China
- Country: China
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,General
- Reuters ID: LVA49950VK6KQXE00TBZR4H9KTO7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL THAT WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
A stampede killed at least 35 people during New Year's Eve celebrations in Shanghai, authorities said, possibly caused by people rushing to pick up fake money thrown from a building overlooking the city's famed Bund waterfront district.
The Shanghai government said that large crowds started to stampede in Chen Yi Square on the Bund just before midnight, with authorities working to rescue and aid the wounded.
It was not immediately clear what triggered the stampede, but state media and a witness said the incident was caused when people scrambled to pick up fake money thrown from a building.
A man who brought one of the 43 injured to a local hospital for treatment said fake money had been thrown down from a bar above the street.
The official Xinhua news agency said many of the injured were students.
President Xi Jinping has told the Shanghai government to get to the bottom of the incident as soon as possible and learn lessons. He has ordered governments across the country to ensure a similar disaster cannot happen again, state television said.
The Shanghai government said on its official microblog that an inquiry had begun.
Photographs on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, showed densely packed crowds of revellers along the Bund, which is lined with buildings from Shanghai's pre-communist heyday on the bank of the Huangpu River.
In some photographs, rescue workers were seen trying to resuscitate victims lying on the pavement while ambulances waited nearby.
Authorities had shown some concern about crowd control in the days leading up to New Year's eve. They recently cancelled an annual 3D laser show on the Bund that last year attracted as many as 300,000 people. - Copyright Holder: CCTV (China) - NO RESALE MAINLAND CHINA
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