Crowds mourn stampede victims

A flower is laid at the site of a deadly stampede in Shanghai on Thursday. At least 36 people died in the incident, the worst disaster in the metropolis in recent years, which occurred during New Year celebrations in the municipality's downtown. [Photo by Guo Erqiang/For chinadaily.com.cn]

Witnesses blamed the incident on the huge number of visitors and poor crowd control.

The stampede happened on an 8-meter-wide set of steps, one of many along the 1.5-kilometer Bund, that lead to a viewing platform. Many people had opted to use the steps nearest to East Nanjing Road, another popular tourist attraction that was also packed with visitors.

The elevated platform provides clear views of the Pearl Tower and other land marks on the opposite side of the Huangpu River.

Wang Yuancang, an eyewitness, said: "There were conflicting flows of people on the steps. Some people were being pushed down the steps, but people continued to crush forward. Some police officers yelled to the crowds to disperse, but it didn't work. It was total chaos."

There were allegations that the stampede was triggered when people started to throw coupons resembling US banknotes to revelers from the third floor of a nearby building.

Most of the injured are aged about 20, and 28 of them are female. Of the 33 injured people that have been identified, two are from Taiwan and one is a Malaysian citizen, according to the Shanghai government.

On Thursday, President Xi Jinping ordered an immediate investigation into the cause of the stampede, and said a profound lesson should be learned from the incident. He urged safeguards to be put in place to prevent a recurrence of the accident.