2015-01-02
A couple place flowers at the site of the New Year’s Eve stampede in Shanghai, Jan. 2, 2015.
AFP
China’s ruling Communist Party on Friday moved to limit coverage of the fatal crush at a crowd of New-Year revelers on Shanghai’s iconic Bund waterfront that left 36 people dead and at least 47 injured.
The city’s propaganda department issued a notice to all China’s tightly controlled media outlets ordering them to stick to the official line on the tragedy and banning them from criticizing party or government.
“All content that attacks the party, government or our social system must be resolutely deleted,” the directive, leaked online and published by the overseas Chinese-language news site Boxun, said.
“It is absolutely forbidden to use any content from social media or overseas media,” it said. “Please stick to the authoritative sources, which are the central government and the Shanghai municipal government.”
China’s central government has ordered a probe and a review of national safety standards following the incident, which occurred shortly before midnight as crowds were gathered for the annual countdown to welcome in the New Year.
According to updated government statements on Friday, 25 of those who died were women, and many of the victims were young adults and students, aged 12 to 37 years old.
Police on Friday also dismissed earlier reports, based on an alleged witness account posted on a popular Chinese social media site, that the stampede was triggered by the hurling of fake money into the crowd.
The focus has shifted to overcrowding on and around a raised viewing platform along the riverside, reports said.
Shanghai’s municipal health department said that the list of those injured had risen by two since initial reports of the incident emerged, although both have since been discharged from hospitals in the city.
