As Asia kicks off 2015, one New Year’s celebration in Shanghai, China has resulted in 35 deaths and 42 injuries.
China’s CCTV America reports that the event, held in Chen Yi Square, near a waterfront area called the Bund, devolved into a stampede.
The sudden crowd movement happened around 11:35pm local time, according to the BBC. No official explanation of the tragic event has yet been offered.
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. Although after watching videos Shanghai Police deny that the stampede was caused by “coupon-throwing.”
The death toll from the stampede has risen to 36 people, and the Shanghai government has said 47 others received hospital treatment following the incident. Thirteen of those were seriously injured in the chaotic crush, but seven of the injured had left hospitals by Thursday afternoon.
The Shanghai government information office said one Taiwanese was among the dead, and two Taiwanese and one Malaysian were among the injured.
Distressed friends and family members of the victims have descended upon Shanghai No.1 People’s Hospital, the facility treating the injured, which reportedly number around 42.
As tensions mount at the hospital, local police have erected a makeshift barricade within the hospital to hold off angry family members as information about the injured trickles out.
