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| Shanghai Mourns Victims of New Year’s Eve Stampede | Shanghai Mourns Victims of New Year’s Eve Stampede |
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| SHANGHAI — Nearly a week after a stampede killed at least 36 people and injured 49 others during an outdoor New Year’s Eve gathering in one of this city’s most popular tourist spots, a solemn memorial service was held here Tuesday morning. | SHANGHAI — Nearly a week after a stampede killed at least 36 people and injured 49 others during an outdoor New Year’s Eve gathering in one of this city’s most popular tourist spots, a solemn memorial service was held here Tuesday morning. |
| Friends and relatives of the victims were among those who came to bow, mourn and place flowers in Chen Yi Square, where scores of people were injured or crushed to death about 11:35 p.m. after a huge crowd that had massed there panicked and pushed, creating a wave of pressure. | |
| The victims were mostly people in their 20s and 30s, a majority of them women who had come to Shanghai to work or study. The youngest victim was 12. China’s longstanding one-child policy means that many of the parents of the victims are now childless. | |
| Although it is unclear what caused the panic and stampede, the city authorities have been criticized for failing to manage or control the crowds at the historical riverfront Bund area. In the days after the accident, the police acknowledged that too few officers were on patrol in the area, despite warnings in previous years about the size and unruliness of the crowds that showed up for New Year’s Eve countdowns and entertainment. | |
| The authorities now say that most outdoor shows had been canceled in the days leading up to New Year’s Eve but that tens of thousands of people still jammed the riverfront promenade expecting to celebrate with light shows and a midnight countdown. | The authorities now say that most outdoor shows had been canceled in the days leading up to New Year’s Eve but that tens of thousands of people still jammed the riverfront promenade expecting to celebrate with light shows and a midnight countdown. |
| In the aftermath, the government has placed strict controls on news coverage of the stampede, censoring or limiting accounts apparently in the belief that it is an embarrassment for Shanghai, China’s wealthiest and most advanced city. The authorities have also tried to prevent the families of victims from talking to journalists. | |
| The memorial service on Tuesday was heavily guarded by police officers, and the families of many victims were escorted into a mourning zone to pay their respects and place flowers. Medical personnel were on hand with wheelchairs and stretchers. | The memorial service on Tuesday was heavily guarded by police officers, and the families of many victims were escorted into a mourning zone to pay their respects and place flowers. Medical personnel were on hand with wheelchairs and stretchers. |
| Some relatives carried a large black-and-white photograph of one of the victims. Others burned paper money. One mourner was so overcome that she had to be carried away on a stretcher. | Some relatives carried a large black-and-white photograph of one of the victims. Others burned paper money. One mourner was so overcome that she had to be carried away on a stretcher. |