News Digest

Shanghai stampede victims mainly women; youngest a 12-year-old

China on Friday mourned the 36 dead from a New Year’s Eve crush on Shanghai’s famed waterfront, as the city government revealed the victims were mainly young women. The incident was Shanghai’s worst since a fire in a high-rise residential building killed 58 people in 2010 and tarnished the commercial hub’s international reputation. On Friday morning, around 100 people gathered in front of a statue of Shanghai’s first communist mayor Chen Yi near the accident scene, some laying flowers in a government-approved show of mourning. The youngest of the 32 victims identified so far was a 12-year-old boy, the oldest 37. All but four were aged 25 or under, according to a list released by the city government on Friday, and 21 were female.

It was a lack of vigilance from the government, a sloppiness…the world’s second-largest economy is still a developing country which has fragile social management.

Xinhua news agency, in a commentary on Friday

Shanghai residents were questioning why the city government did not control the crowds, though police said a “more than normal” 700 police officers were present. Authorities at first removed flowers after the incident but later set up crowd barriers to allow them to be laid in a controlled area. On Thursday evening, mourners lit candles including an arrangement in the shape of a heart. Internet postings and media reports initially blamed US dollar-like notes - actually promotional items from M18, a glitzy Bund nightclub - thrown from a building for setting off a scramble and causing the carnage. But police said the “money” throwing occurred 12 minutes after and 60 metres away from the crush in a plaza. The waterfront has become a New Year countdown site in recent years after authorities brought in performances such as 3D light shows and fireworks. Celebrations in 2013 drew more than 300,000 revellers.

I feel very sad about this and I hope the government will offer better safety controls for events like this.

University student Chen Xiaohang, while placing white chrysanthemums at the site in memory of the sister of a high-school classmate who died