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Bund stampede kills 35, injures 43

AT least 35 people were killed in a stampede at the Bund area around midnight when huge crowds of revelers gathered to celebrate the New Year, according to the Shanghai government.

The stampede happened about 11:35pm yesterday at the Chen Yi Square, killing 35 people and leaving another 43 injured, the city government information office said on its Weibo account at 4:02am today.

President Xi Jinping urged all efforts to be made to save those injured in the stampede.

The Chen Yi Square is near the Bund Origin area, where a New Year countdown show was being held.

According to Shanghai Television, the stampede occurred when a large number of people were blocked when they were trying to move upstairs to the riverfront area. They then started to fall down to the ground and pile up, the report said.

One photo from the scene shared on Weibo showed at least one person doing chest compressions on a shirtless man while several other people lay on the ground nearby, amid debris. Another photo showed the area ringed by police.

The injured were sent to several hospitals for treatment, including Changzheng Hospital, the Shanghai No. 1 People's Hospital, Ruijin Hospital and Huangpu District Central Hospital.

A total of 28 persons were sent to Shanghai No. 1 People's Hospital, Xia Shujie, deputy director of the hospital said. Most of the injured suffered serious suffocation.

Ten injured were hospitalized in Ruijin Hostpial, many with bone fractures. Some suffered psychological trauma.

Changzheng Hospital and the Shanghai No. 1 People's Hospital, which took in injured persons in the Bund stampede, stopped taking new emergency patients today, suggesting that they visit other hospitals.

Families of those went missing started to register their information with the authority.

The cause of the stampede is still under investigation.

Safety concerns

The New Year’s Eve countdown show were in the past three years held in an open area at the Bund. However, this year it was moved to the Bund Origin, a relative enclosed area, due to safety concerns.

About 2,000 visitors would be invited to watch the show, according to previous reports.

Last year officials were surprised when nearly 300,000 people turned up for the countdown show at the Bund, which led to traffic chaos.

The relocation was "in order to improve traffic flow," the Huangpu District government said earlier.
 




 

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