http://www.todayonline.com/world/new-years-eve-stampede-kills-35-shanghai-after-fake-money-thrown-building
Can getting step on lead to death so easily?
Can getting step on lead to death so easily?
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Tiong stampede kills 35 with fake money
- Thread starter Timerty
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Boo hoo, be still your bleeding heart. :kma:
New Year celebrations cancelled in Shanghai after 36 die in riverfront stampede
At least 47 people were injured, including 13 in a critical condition, in crush on the Bund
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 01 January, 2015, 5:55am
UPDATED : Thursday, 01 January, 2015, 5:53pm
Staff reporters and agencies
A picture shared on social media showing an aerial view of the crowds on the Bund in Shanghai after the stampede on New Year's Eve.
New Year celebrations across Shanghai were cancelled today after 36 people were killed and scores more injured in a stampede on the Bund just minutes before midnight.
At least 47 people were injured amid the chaos in the city's popular riverfront tourist district about half an hour before midnight, according to a statement released by the city government. Thirteen are in a critical condition, the authorities said on the government's social media account.
Most of those killed and injured in the stampede were young people in their 20s, including college students, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Watch: New Year stampede kills 36 in Shanghai
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The authorities in Shanghai cancelled all New Year celebrations on Thursday as President Xi Jinping instructed them to "do everything in their power" to help those injured and launch an immediate investigation into the cause of the stampede, according to state media.
Local media quoted survivors and witnesses describing the chaotic scene as waves of spectators in a square swarmed onto a raised platform for a viewing spot of a New Year's Eve light show and pushed against those coming off, with people pressed so tightly together that they couldn't breathe.
As exhausted people fell or were knocked down, tripping more behind them, panic quickly spread through the huge crowds, with "young girls screaming desperately for their lives and the sounds of all sorts of curses around", wrote one eyewitness on social media.
Survivors described the scene as "hellish", Xinhua reported.
A scene after the stampede on the Bund. Photo: Xinhua
One man caught in the crush was quoted on a social media account of a 21st Century Business Herald journalist as saying that the chaos lasted for about 10 minutes.
"I was surrounded by cries for help from women and the sounds of beating and cursing," he said. "All I could do was try to keep my upper body in the air to ensure that I could breathe.
"There were people behind me grabbing my hair, struggling for breath, and a girl held me saying, 'Help me, I can't hold on much longer'". There were also women who had fallen silent beneath me."
When the crowds finally thinned, dozens of victims were seen lying unconscious or moaning on the ground and on top of each other. Volunteers and survivors helped carry some victims to open areas and tried to resuscitate them as others started calling the police and emergency services.
"That was when we heard the count down: 5, 4, 3..." wrote one witness on Weibo.
"There were just too many people and nowhere people could escape to," said a woman witness who declined to give her name.
Other witnesses said they saw what looked like a large amount of banknotes rain down from a nearby building, which caused many on the ground to surge forward and pick them up. Pictures posted on social media later showed pieces of paper strewn on the ground near where the stampede took place and social media users identified them as coupons of a club in the building.
Cui Tingting, 27, said she had picked up some of the coupons, but had thrown them away when she realised they were not money.
"It’s too cruel. People in front of us had already fallen to the floor and others were stepping all over them," she said.
It remains unclear if the incident involving the thrown coupons was one of the triggers of the stampede, or only made matters worse after people had already fallen.
The cause of the crush remained under investigation, Xinhua said.
Cai Lixin, a police commander in the district, told a press conference that 500 officers were deployed at the scene to help with the rescue operation and disperse the crowds.
Some of the injured were sent to hospital by police car before ambulances arrived, he said.
A Xinhua photo from the scene showed at least one person doing chest compressions on a shirtless man while several other people lay on the ground nearby, amid debris.
Relatives of a victim hug as they wait at a hospital where people injured in the crush are treated in Shanghai. Photo: Reuters
At Shanghai No1 People’s Hospital, waves of anxious people were rushing to the emergency ward on Thursday morning, looking for their loved ones after learning of the midnight stampede in the news. Some said they had lost contact with their children or friends and were worried that they might be among the casualties.
They were barred from entering the ward by policemen and hospital security guards, while police circulated pictures and name lists of injured victims who had been sent to several city hospitals, asking family members to identify them.
A brief scuffle broke out as one middle-aged man lost his patience and tried to push through the line of security guards. The Shanghai resident told the South China Morning Post that he had waited for hours for news about his 25-year-old nephew, who was being treated at the hospital.
“It is such a serious incident and why is there no government official or hospital staff here to speak to us? They left all this to a few young security guards to handle?” he said after arguing fruitlessly with the security guards.
A friend of a victim covers his face as he waits outside a hospital where injured have been treated. Photo: Reuters
Four university students from Jiangxi Province told the Post that two of their female schoolmates were among those hospitalised. The square where the stampede took place was extremely crowded, they said. It was difficult to move around, and mobile networks were jammed.
The four were separated from their schoolmates and left the square amid the chaos after the countdown. They only learned that the other two girls were injured and hospitalised from news reports, they said.
At the same hospital, the mother of an injured 12-year-old boy sat crying, surrounded by relatives.
“We don’t know what is happening, but we can’t get in to see him,” said her older brother, who declined to be named.
One of the people killed was from Taiwan, Xinhua reported. Another person from the island was also injured, the news agency said.
A person from Malaysia was also hurt in the crush, the People's Daily reported.
One local woman killed was a student Du Yijun, who was studying at Fudan University in Shanghai, the Shidao Bao newspaper reported. She was pronounced dead at hospital.
Premier Li Keqiang told the Shanghai authorities to "take all possible measures to reduce the number of casualties", Xinhua reported. Shanghai Communist Party secretary Han Zheng and mayor Yang Xiong went to several local hospitals to visit victims after the stampede.
The city should immediately examine its schedules of large events, especially events in densely populated areas, the official China News Agency quoted Han as saying. "All those that should be stopped must be stopped,"
Hong Kong's Immigration Department had not received any request for assistance from Hong Kong residents so far in relation to the Shanghai stampede, a government spokesman said on Thursday.
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Last week, the English-language Shanghai Daily reported that the annual New Year's Eve countdown on the Bund that normally attracts about 300,000 people had been cancelled, apparently because of crowd control issues.
The report said a "toned-down" version of the event would be held instead. Many of the huge crowds had come to see a light show that started at 11pm and was due to end after midnight.
The stampede appeared to be near that area.
Witnesses said there were a "sea of faces" and they struggled for breath amid the crowds.
Shanghai's historic Bund riverfront runs along an area of narrow streets amid restored old buildings, shops and tourist attractions. The China Daily newspaper in February reported that the city's population was more than 24 million at the end of 2013.
Last year, 14 people - some of them children - were killed and 10 injured in a stampede that broke out as food was distributed at a mosque in China’s Ningxia region.
Also last year, six students were killed in a stampede at a primary school in Kunming in the southwest, after the accidental blocking of a stairway corridor.
Shanghai Communist Party secretary Han Zheng, centre, arrives at a city hospital. Photo: Shanghai Government
this tragedy shows exactly what kind of mentalities daft and stupid sinkies have,with just a tiny amount of incentives(gst vouchers) u can drive these sinkie chink rats into a frenzy and stampede to their deaths by voting in PAP for another 5 years.
if lee hsien loong were to stand within 200m of a polling booth and toss down handfuls of 2 dollar bills there would be a stampede of sinkies rushing to vote PAP and pick up the money.
if lee hsien loong were to stand within 200m of a polling booth and toss down handfuls of 2 dollar bills there would be a stampede of sinkies rushing to vote PAP and pick up the money.
Sinkies will grumble about paying more for electricity, HDB property, childcare, etc etc. But once they receive a $50 voucher from PAP, they will still think they got the better deal. When else can you find such stupid voters?
It's just an example of Communist crooks don't know how to behave.
these stupid people only have themselves to be blamed. goes to show the greedy mentality of these china ah tiongs. even coupon vouchers they would think it is money and run to grab it. they were probably thinking it was a repeat of the HK incident where money drop out of the van. really greedy people these ah tiongs wih no cow sense.
Maybe in few years time sinkieland with its 6.9-10million people would likely see a similar or worse incident
That guy will be arrested soon for disturbing public peace.
I thought the area forbidden for dogs and chinks. Who let them in?
Tight security as relatives of Shanghai stampede victims visit disaster site
Tourism official blames district government as Shanghai mayor talks of 'profound lesson'
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 06 January, 2015, 2:38pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 07 January, 2015, 8:41am
Mandy Zuo [email protected]
A distraught relative collapses in grief at the scene of the crush. Photo: Reuters
Dozens of relatives of the people killed in the Shanghai New Year's Eve stampede were taken to the scene of the disaster amid tight security yesterday morning.
Mourners were driven in groups to Chen Yi Square on the riverfront to lay flowers and pay their respects.
Thirty-six people were killed in the stampede last Wednesday as huge crowds gathered to watch a light show on the Bund.
Relatives at a memorial yesterday for those killed in a stampede during a new year's celebration on the Bund. Photo: Reuters
Most of the journalists covering the aftermath of the disaster are from overseas.
Reporters working for mainland news media said they were under pressure from the authorities to limit their coverage because the government feared too much negative reporting could create "instability".
Dozens of people who commented online about the stampede have been interrogated by Shanghai police in an apparent effort to contain public criticism of the authorities.
DON'T MISS: Teacher apologises after 'their death is good' comments on Shanghai's New Year stampede
A couple of bereaved relatives broke through the intense security at the square and approached an area set aside for journalists, hoping to make their voice heard.
A woman overcome with emotion is led away by medical staff. Photo: Reuters
"Do you know on which step of the staircase my child died?" asked one grieving man.
A woman added: "It took me 24 hours to get a chance to see the dead body of my husband."
One relative said a policeman had been following his family around the clock and several other officers were guarding the hotel where they were staying.
Police officers standing guard while people look at the site of the New Year's Eve stampede in Shanghai. Photo: AFP
The square, a popular riverside tourist attraction, was cordoned off from the public and only relatives escorted by government officials were allowed to enter.
One man complained that he had been stopped by the police and could not get in, even though his son had died in the crush.
"What you police officers are doing is just stopping and catching ordinary citizens," he shouted. "My child is dead. Why not let me in?"
Flowers left at Chen Yi Square. Photo: Reuters
Du Yili , deputy head of the China National Tourism Administration, said on Monday that the local government was responsible for public safety, whether or not the event had been organised officially.
She said the Huangpu district government was to blame for "failing to follow normal procedures for large-scale events and prepare various contingency plans" since the regular new year countdown celebration on the Bund this year had been replaced by smaller celebrations elsewhere.
Du was the first central government official to comment publicly on the incident.
At yesterday's city legislature session, Shanghai mayor Yang Xiong said the tragedy had provided "an extremely profound and painful lesson", Xinhua reported.
The government should concentrate on improving traffic controls in key areas and during key hours, and review existing safety measures, the report quoted him as saying.
Four Shanghai officials to be sacked over New Year stampede that killed 36
Officials also punished for paying for a luxury meal at a restaurant with public funds minutes before the disaster
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 21 January, 2015, 10:50am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 21 January, 2015, 6:33pm
Staff Reporter
Crowds gather at The Bund on the night of the stampede. Photo: SCMP Pictures
An inquiry into the New Year’s Eve stampede on the riverfront in Shanghai has recommended that four senior district government officials in the city be sacked.
The Shanghai municipal government report, released on Wednesday morning, criticised Huangpu district officials for failures in risk assessment, public communication, crowd control preparation and monitoring, as well as their response in dealing with the disaster.
The inquiry recommended sacking the Communist Party head of the Huangpu area Zhou Wei, district government chief Peng Song, deputy district chief Zhou Zheng and the district police chief Chen Qi.
A final decision on whether the officials will be fired will be taken by higher authorities in the Communist Party.
Watch: China sacks four officials over Shanghai stampede
Thousands of people had crammed on to the riverfront to watch a New Year’s Eve light show.
Thirty-six people were killed and 49 were injured. Most of those who died were in their 20s.
Officials in Shanghai have been strongly criticised for the lack of police and crowd control on the Bund on New Year’s Eve.
The anti-corruption authority in Shanghai also said it would be punishing officials for using public funds to pay for a luxury meal at a restaurant minutes before the stampede happened.
This was in breach of guidelines curbing extravagant spending, the authorities said.
They include Huangpu party chief Zhou and five other district officials.
A big New Year’s Eve lights show is regularly held on the riverfront in Shanghai, but this year the venue was changed.
The inquiry said the public were only informed by the district tourism department about the altered venue on December 30, so thousands turned up thinking the event would be held as normal.
The report also said the district’s police did not carry out a risk assessment for the New Year’s Eve countdown and only deployed 350 officers, 100 paramilitary police and 108 auxiliary officers for crowd control on the Bund.
At the raised platform staircase in Chen Yi Square, where the stampede took place, only seven policemen were stationed.
The report said that even when people started flocking to the riverside from 8pm, Huangpu police did not report crowd numbers every half hour to the city police headquarters as required.
It also failed to ask headquarters for reinforcements.
Vice-mayor Zhou Bo formally apologised to the public, the victims of the stampede and their families.
The inquiry recommended the city government improve safety management in crowded public spaces or at big events, that increased crowd control monitoring be introduced and that the authorities strengthen their emergency response system.
It also called for more information to be given to educate people in the city about public safety.
Questions have mounted over how such a tragedy could have occurred in the mainland's wealthiest and best-managed city.
Shanghai's historic Bund riverfront runs along an area of narrow streets amid restored old buildings, shops and tourist attractions.
____________________________
TIMELINE: Shanghai stampede
December 31
8pm People start to gather in The Bund area, China News Service reports, citing the Huangpu district police commander.
11.30pm A witness hears women and children scream as people are crushed together near Chen Yi Square, and unease starts to spread through the crowd, according to the Southern Metropolis News.
Police spot unusual pedestrian movements near the square. They detect that “people have stopped moving” and dispatch 500 officers to the scene, China News Service reports, citing the Huangpu district police commander.
The first police officers arrive on the scene in “five to eight minutes”, Eastday.com quotes a police officer as saying.
11.34pm A witness sees several people fall on a staircase near the square. where the stampede took place. People nearby try to pull them up but fail as more pedestrians crowd the steps. The situation gets out of control and those on the ground are further pressed together, according to the Southern Metropolis News website, Nandu.com.
11.35pm The stampede occurs, according to the official account.
11.40pm Several pedestrians near the stairs shout “Back! Back!”, trying to stop more people flooding in, the Southern Metropolis News Nandu.com reports, citing a witness.
11.50pm A witness sees “fake money” that had been thrown from a building across the road, Eastday.com reports. The notes turn out to be bar coupons.
11.55pm The crowd starts to calm down. People help move the injured. out of the stampede area. Some pedestrians try to resuscitate the start to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the injured while others clear a way for ambulances, Sina.com reports.
January 1
12.31am The Shanghai Public Security Bureau’s official microblog says police officers are evacuating pedestrians after some people fell in The Bund area.
3am Shanghai party chief Han Zheng visits the injured at the Shanghai No1 People’s Hospital, China News Service reports.
4.01am Shanghai government’s microblog announces that 35 people were killed and 42 injured in the stampede. Later updated to 36 dead and 47 hurt.
Government officials silent over compensation for victims of the Shanghai stampede disaster
Officials ignore shouted questions about the issue during a briefing into the causes of the New Year’s Eve crush on the city's riverfront that killed 36 people
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 21 January, 2015, 3:56pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 21 January, 2015, 11:04pm
Staff Reporter
A man lays flowers at the scene of the disaster. Officials have defended the decision to punish only lower-level cadres for negligence. Photo: AP
Relatives of the 36 people who died in the New Year’s Eve stampede in Shanghai have still yet to hear if they will receive compensation after the disaster.
The issue was not raised during a press conference into the causes of the fatal crush on the city’s riverfront and officials did not reply when journalists pressed them on the matter.
“You didn’t answer questions about compensation,” several reporters shouted at the end of the press briefing on Wednesday. Officials sitting on the platform walked away without responding.
Wang Yu, the deputy director of Shanghai’s supervision bureau, defended at another meeting the decision to punish only district level officials for negligence.
The inquiry into the disaster has recommended that four officials in the Huangpu district be sacked.
Wang said cadres in Huangpu bore the main blame for the poor policing and crowd control on the Bund on New Year’s Eve when thousands packed onto the riverfront to watch a lights show.
“The joint investigation team found that it was the Huangpu district government that was mainly responsible for the incident, while municipal government departments were found in dereliction of their duties to guide and supervise,” said Wang.
Han Zheng, Shanghai’s Communist Party chief, said the city had learned a lesson in blood from the disaster and he was full of sorrow.
Liu Ping, the deputy director of the municipal government’s law department, also denied rumours that the city authorities had officially categorised the disaster as an “incident” rather than an “accident” to try to reduce any potential criminal charges for negligence.
“That scenario does not exist,” said Liu.
The authorities have carried out safety assessments on 29 events due to take place at future festivals in Shanghai, including the Lunar New Year next month, said Vice Mayor Zhou Bo.
Twenty-four have been given the go-ahead and five cancelled.
Three people are still in hospital after the New Year’s Eve disaster, said Xu Wei, a spokesman for the city government.
One is in a critical condition.
Families of victims killed in Shanghai stampede to each receive 800,000 yuan compensation
After weeks of silence on the issue, Huangpu district government announces compensation for deaths and injuries caused by the disaster
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 22 January, 2015, 12:55am
UPDATED : Thursday, 22 January, 2015, 10:23am
Alice Yan, Mandy Zuo and Daniel Ren
A man holds a portrait of a Shanghai stampede victim. Photo: AP
Families of revellers killed in Shanghai's New Year's Eve stampede will each receive 800,000 yuan (HK$1.01 million) in compensation, the Huangpu district government announced on Wednesday night after three weeks of silence on the issue.
The authorities said those injured in the stampede would be given payouts depending on the severity of their injuries, according to a statement on the district authority's official microblog.
The compensation for the deaths is in line with guidelines from the Supreme People's Court, which stipulate that payouts in such cases should be about 20 times the average annual income of a Shanghai resident.
The announcement came the same day that investigators released their report on the tragedy, making no mention of compensation in the document and refusing to answer questions on the issue at a press conference.
Four Huangpu district officials were sacked over the tragedy on the Bund, which claimed 36 lives and injured 49 others.
Three of the injured are still in hospital, one of whom is in critical condition.
Earlier in the day, relatives said they had been frustrated by the lack of progress on payouts.
An uncle of Hubei victim Wu Cuixia, who declined to be named, said none of the city or district leaders had talked to the relatives, many of whom had travelled from distant provinces and been split up into different hotels designated by local cadres.
"We haven't got a word of apology. They had no respect for the victims at all," the uncle said.
He said he was far from satisfied with the punishment announced, insisting that officials higher up should be held to account for an incident that could have been avoided with more security and a contingency plan.
Wu's uncle said local custom dictated that a funeral be held within days of death but Wu's body, together with those of other victims, was still in a funeral home, awaiting an outcome on compensation.
"It's been more than 20 days now … They apparently didn't have a guilty conscience," he said.
Lin Lin, a cousin of Changchun victim Zhan Yang, was equally frustrated.
Lin said after 21 days of mourning and waiting, she "turned on the TV at 11.10am [yesterday] in the hope of being updated about [compensation for] my cousin, but there wasn't a thing about it".
"Our family couldn't eat at all. They watched TV every day, hoping to get a clue, but nothing," she said.
"We called the government, and they told us to wait. We have already been waiting!"
A relative of a Fujian victim, who also did not want to be named, said he and many other relatives were disappointed that no medical official was punished, saying that some of the dead could have survived if they had received prompt treatment on arrival at hospital.
Several relatives previously told the South China Morning Post that their relatives were still alive when they were taken to hospital, but there were too many victims and too few medical staff.
At yesterday's press conference, Xiong Xinguang, director of the Shanghai government's emergency response office and a member of the investigation team, praised medical workers for their response.
Beijing-based lawyer Hao Junbo said the families were entitled to seek redress through the legal system but "court hearings are the last thing government officials want to see".
"Lawsuits will attract media attention and fuel public anger towards the officials' wrongdoings, which could be a catalyst for social disorder."
____________________________
TIMELINE: Shanghai stampede
December 31
8pm People start to gather in The Bund area, China News Service reports, citing the Huangpu district police commander.
11.30pm A witness hears women and children scream as people are crushed together near Chen Yi Square, and unease starts to spread through the crowd, according to the Southern Metropolis News.
Police spot unusual pedestrian movements near the square. They detect that “people have stopped moving” and dispatch 500 officers to the scene, China News Service reports, citing the Huangpu district police commander.
The first police officers arrive on the scene in “five to eight minutes”, Eastday.com quotes a police officer as saying.
11.34pm A witness sees several people fall on a staircase near the square. where the stampede took place. People nearby try to pull them up but fail as more pedestrians crowd the steps. The situation gets out of control and those on the ground are further pressed together, according to the Southern Metropolis News website, Nandu.com.
11.35pm The stampede occurs, according to the official account.
11.40pm Several pedestrians near the stairs shout “Back! Back!”, trying to stop more people flooding in, the Southern Metropolis News Nandu.com reports, citing a witness.
11.50pm A witness sees “fake money” that had been thrown from a building across the road, Eastday.com reports. The notes turn out to be bar coupons.
11.55pm The crowd starts to calm down. People help move the injured out of the stampede area. Some pedestrians try to resuscitate the start to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the injured while others clear a way for ambulances, Sina.com reports.
January 1
12.31am The Shanghai Public Security Bureau’s official microblog says police officers are evacuating pedestrians after some people fell in The Bund area.
3am Shanghai party chief Han Zheng visits the injured at the Shanghai No 1 People’s Hospital, China News Service reports.
4.01am Shanghai government’s microblog announces that 35 people were killed and 42 injured in the stampede. Later updated to 36 dead and 47 hurt.
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