35 killed, 42 injured in Shanghai stampede

[webfact]

Report: 35 killed, 42 injured in Shanghai stampede

SHANGHAI (AP) — Thirty-five people died in a stampede during New Year's celebrations in downtown Shanghai, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported — the worst disaster to hit one of China's biggest cities in recent years.

The report early Thursday cited the Shanghai government in saying that another 42 people were injured amid the chaos about a half-hour before midnight.

The deaths and injuries occurred at Shanghai's popular riverfront Bund area, which can be jammed with spectators for major events.

CCTV America, the U.S. version of state broadcaster China Central Television, posted video of Shanghai streets after the stampede, showing piles of discarded shoes amid the debris.

One 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. Another photo showed the area ringed by police.

The cause of the stampede remained under investigation, the Xinhua report said.

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 but that it would not be open to the public.

The stampede appeared to be near that area.

Meanwhile, Xinhua's top story on its website was not the stampede but President Xi Jinping's New Year's message. Xinhua's story in Chinese remained just two paragraphs long hours after the disaster.

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.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-01-01

[MrWorldwide]

Bizarre. It will be interesting to see what they were (presumably) trying to run away from, if and when we get an update on this.

[brewsterbudgen]

Reports are saying that someone threw fake money from a bar above which triggered the stampede.

[sabaii69]

Having just left china, perhaps they found out that someone was selling coffee. A non existent beverage there.

[ikurauni]

In China, they report that it is always 35 people to be dead.

[zydeco]

Coming soon to the immigration check-in at Suvarnabhumi.

[sirineou]

in the 80's I went to a Simon and Garfunkel concert at central park NYC , it was attended by an estimated 500,000 people.

hen the concert was finished, everyone got up and left at the same time.

I remember having thousands of people in front of me and thousands behind me, I had no control where I was going and I remember thinking that if I fell, I was dead

it was pretty scary

Having being in that situation, I can understand how something like this can happen.

[CMNightRider]

I was in Shanghai, last month. My girlfriend and I were first in line to get into the subway car at the airport. The subway doors opened and by the time I took my first step into the subway, we were surrounded by about 60 Chinese running into and by us. By the time I took my second step, all the seats were taken. I felt like I was in a football game.

I wonder what spooked them into running over people. Someone must have been giving something away.

[EyesWideOpen]

If you are ever in a crowd press situation, what happens is you suffocate because of the bodies

pressing against you and you cannot breathe. The trick is to immediately drop to the ground

and huddle in a ball. More room there as of course legs are thinner than bodies.

[maidee]

and that is why i always avoid large crowds

crazy people everywhere

with the me me me attitude and a little panic is all you need to enter the next life too early

[Tchooptip]

A crowd is already frightening ... but imagine a Chinese crowd

[ggt]

This same tragedy could happen in Thailand if they announced that a farang retiree was arriving at the airport looking for someone to love...

[F430murci]

If you are ever in a crowd press situation, what happens is you suffocate because of the bodies

pressing against you and you cannot breathe. The trick is to immediately drop to the ground

and huddle in a ball. More room there as of course legs are thinner than bodies.

I thought people generally died in a stampede from falling on the ground and getting stomped to death like what happened at the Pearl Jam concert. Seems iike you would be correct though if it was a matter of the crowd crushing people int the front into a fixed object and there was no movement. This would be a really bad way to go.

http://www.mtv.com/news/1121704/pearl-jam-fans-crushed-to-death-at-danish-show/

[Anthony5]

I was in Shanghai, last month. My girlfriend and I were first in line to get into the subway car at the airport. The subway doors opened and by the time I took my first step into the subway, we were surrounded by about 60 Chinese running into and by us. By the time I took my second step, all the seats were taken. I felt like I was in a football game.

I wonder what spooked them into running over people. Someone must have been giving something away.

Never heard about musical chairs?

[EyesWideOpen]

If you are ever in a crowd press situation, what happens is you suffocate because of the bodies

pressing against you and you cannot breathe. The trick is to immediately drop to the ground

and huddle in a ball. More room there as of course legs are thinner than bodies.

I thought people generally died in a stampede from falling on the ground and getting stomped to death like what happened at the Pearl Jam concert. Seems iike you would be correct though if it was a matter of the crowd crushing people int the front into a fixed object and there was no movement. This would be a really bad way to go.

http://www.mtv.com/news/1121704/pearl-jam-fans-crushed-to-death-at-danish-show/

The term stampede is somewhat incorrect, as it sounds like a bunch of people kill you by running

over the top of you. What really happens is you simply unable to breathe due to the people

pressing against you, and you die while still standing up..... But even if you were able to curl in

a ball on the ground, I guess if there were enough people on top of you , you could then suffocate

from the downward pressure.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stampede

Deaths from human stampedes occur primarily from compressive asphyxiation and not trampling.^[5] This is referred to as crowd crush.^[6] The compressive force occurs from both horizontal pushing and vertical stacking.

[F430murci]

If you are ever in a crowd press situation, what happens is you suffocate because of the bodies

pressing against you and you cannot breathe. The trick is to immediately drop to the ground

and huddle in a ball. More room there as of course legs are thinner than bodies.

I thought people generally died in a stampede from falling on the ground and getting stomped to death like what happened at the Pearl Jam concert. Seems iike you would be correct though if it was a matter of the crowd crushing people int the front into a fixed object and there was no movement. This would be a really bad way to go.

http://www.mtv.com/news/1121704/pearl-jam-fans-crushed-to-death-at-danish-show/

The term stampede is somewhat incorrect, as it sounds like a bunch of people kill you by running

over the top of you. What really happens is you simply unable to breathe due to the people

pressing against you, and you die while still standing up..... But even if you were able to curl in

a ball on the ground, I guess if there were enough people on top of you , you could then suffocate

from the downward pressure.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stampede

Deaths from human stampedes occur primarily from compressive asphyxiation and not trampling.^[5] This is referred to as crowd crush.^[6] The compressive force occurs from both horizontal pushing and vertical stacking.

Either way, an awful way to go being crushed to death and behind confined and not being able to move or breathe.

[englishoak]

One report is fake money being thrown off a nightclub balcony may have started a surge in the crowd.

[bendejo]

Well, there must of been a good reason. After all, pushing and shoving like that hardly ever happens there.

[HeijoshinCool]

I was in Shanghai, last month. My girlfriend and I were first in line to get into the subway car at the airport. The subway doors opened and by the time I took my first step into the subway, we were surrounded by about 60 Chinese running into and by us. By the time I took my second step, all the seats were taken. I felt like I was in a football game.

I wonder what spooked them into running over people. Someone must have been giving something away.

.

Your first mistake was, while being in China, thinking you were "first in line."

[copa8]

After nearly 20 posts, no comments related to the victims. I'll be the first to say R.I.P. to all the dead. I guess Asian (particularly Chinese) lives are not deserving of such. Probably would be different had this happened in the US/UK.

[Scott]

Off-topic post removed.