Shanghai: The bitter pain of bereavement turned to tears of anger on Friday for relatives of the 36 killed in a New Year’s Eve crush in Shanghai, as they accused authorities of failing to control the crowds. Li Juan was only a few metres away from her younger sister, Li Na, on the Bund when the accident happened on a wide stairway leading to a waterfront promenade.
“It all feels like a dream and I still cannot believe that she is gone,” she said, weeping uncontrollably and struggling to get her words out.
“The government is responsible for the accident,” Li said, adding she only saw six to eight police on the staircase. “I couldn’t see any other police on the plaza” below, she added, before collapsing in grief on the floor.“I cannot imagine something like this would ever happen in a city like Shanghai,” said Cai Jinjin, who has lived in Shanghai for 10 years. All but four of the dead on a list of 32 identified victims released by the city government were aged 25 or under, and 21 were female.
The youngest was a 12-year-old boy, Mao Yongjie.He became separated from his mother in the overwhelming flow of revellers, news magazine Caixin reported, and efforts by hospital staff to save his life failed. His mother spent New Year's day crying until she passed out from exhaustion, Caixin added. The oldest fatality was Du Shuanghua, 37, whose wife said he was the family’s only breadwinner and she had not told their eight-year-old son that his father was dead. Police eventually are allowing relatives to collect bodies.
