SHANGHAI, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Shanghai, China, authorities released information Friday on the victims of the New Year's Eve stampede along the city's waterfront, in which 36 people died.
Thirty-one of the 49 injured remained hospitalized Friday, 13 of whom are regarded as in serious condition. Shanghai police acknowledged they underestimated the size of the crowd, which officials said reached 300,000 by 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, the number who attended the previous year's celebrations. The police said not enough personnel were on hand to control the crowd at Chen Yi Square in the Bund, the former area of the city's international settlement and now known for its upscale bars and restaurants.
About 500 police officers were in the area on New Year's Eve, and celebrants were congregated largely in Chen Yi Square to the point it was impossible to move, China National Radio reported.
The official cause of the panic remains under investigation, but victims ranged in age from 12 to 37, and at least one died of suffocation, the city government media office said.
Shanghai Communist Party Secretary Han Zheng said procedures for future large events will be reviewed. Chinese President Xi Jinping also ordered a federal investigation assure safety procedures are in effect for the Chinese New Year celebrations in in Shanghai in February.
A witness told the Xinhua news agency the stampede began after coupons resembling U.S. dollar bills were tossed from a window into the crowd at the square, and people surged forward to catch them, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.
