Stampede Leaves 36 Dead, 47 Injured in Shanghai

Grieving relatives identified the bodies of loved ones a day after a stampede during celebrations along Shanghai’s historic waterfront area killed 36 people. Some families lashed out at authorities, accusing them of being unresponsive to their plight and failing to prevent the disaster.

The chaos began about a half-hour before what was supposed to be a joyful celebration of the start of 2015. In the end, dozens were dead and 47 people were hospitalized, including 13 who were seriously injured, according to the Shanghai government. Some of the victims had suffocated, said Xia Shujie, vice president of Shanghai No. 1 People’s Hospital.

Seven of the injured had left hospitals by Thursday afternoon.

The stampede’s cause was still under investigation. It happened at Chen Yi Square in Shanghai’s old riverfront Bund area, famed for its art deco buildings from the 1920s and 1930s. Throngs of people often jam the area during major events.

This article appeared in print on page 2 of the January 2nd, 2015 edition of Hamodia.