A cloud over large-scale events after deadly Shanghai stampede

Shanghai police officers stand guard at Nanjing East Road in the Bund on Saturday night, site of the tragic stampede on New Year's Eve that claimed 36 lives. The accident occurred Wednesday night as tens of thousands of revellers assembled in Shanghai's historic riverfront walk to watch a New Year skyline show in the Pudong financial area opposite of Huangpu River.

Guyi Garden has confirmed that their lantern exhibition, one of the two major annual lantern exhibitions held for the last seven years in Shanghai, will be canceled this year out of safety concerns, reported The Beijing Morning Post on Tuesday.

Guyi Garden said they decided to cancel the exhibit because the event was oversubscribed given the limited capacity of the garden, based on attendance figures from former years.

Instead, they will enhance security to better prepare for the Spring Festival Temple Fair, another large-scale event during Spring Festival.

The cancellation could be a reflection of the concerns and lack of confidence in crowd control after the unexpected deadly stampede in Shanghai. Concerns have also spread to Beijing.

Many supermarkets in the capital noticed their customers said they would cancel their planned business promotions to avoid the repetition of the Shanghai New Year countdown tragedy, according to The Beijing News on Tuesday.

"Not all the large-scale promotion events must be cancelled," the staff of Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce stressed, "but reporting the event in advance is now even more important."

Thirty-six people died in a fatal stampede during New Year celebrations late in the night of Dec 31 in Shanghai due to the lack of crowd control. After the incident, Shanghai called off all New Year celebrations in public places.

Source: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/

Shanghai government responsible for deadly stampede: China tourism body

China's National Tourism Administrator said Shanghai authorities had failed to take precautions to prevent the deadly stampede that killed more than three dozen people on New Year's Eve.

SHANGHAI: China's National Tourism Administrator says the Shanghai government is responsible for the deadly stampede that killed more than three dozen people on New Year's Eve.

In a document published on its website, the agency said the city's authorities had failed in taking precautions to prevent the incident from happening.

The comments come nearly a week after the tragedy took place and authorities have so far provided little explanation for what happened at Shanghai's iconic riverfront.

Authorities said they understood from family members that they had wanted to go to the stampede site to mourn the dead.

Hence, additional barricades were put up and the entire area cordoned off to maintain order and prevent overcrowding - the very same measures that should have been in place that fateful night to prevent the tragedy from happening.

Earlier, emotions ran high as anguished parents went to the incident site to grieve their children on the traditional Chinese seventh day of mourning. Most of the dead were students in their twenties.

"In terms of public safety, Shanghai is known to be better than other cities. It's really unexpected that something like this has happened," said a member of the public.

China's National Tourism Administration said the Shanghai government is responsible for the public's safety even though no event was planned for that night.

Earlier on, officials had said they did not bring in extra reinforcements that night because there was no countdown celebration on the riverfront.

Quoting the law in a document published online, the tourism administration said that when incidents of such nature occur, the government is obliged to be prepared, vigilant and responsive.

Authorities in Shanghai have yet to respond and have also not provided further details on their investigation into the incident.

Meantime, there was controlled grieving on-site as police blocked off public access to where the mishap allegedly took place. Mourners, who are next-of-kin of the victims, are heavily escorted away from the public's eye.

When asked, officials said it is unclear how long the cordons will stay, providing little comfort to families who lost their loved ones on New Year's Eve.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/