上海外滩踩踏事件36遇难

The deadly stampede occurred just before midnight in Chen Yi square on the city's famous Bund waterfront district.

Some survivors say they were standing on the steps leading towards the platform overlooking the Huangpu River when the stampede started.

"We were at the bottom of the steps, and we wanted to go up. At the same time, people at the top of the steps wanted to get down. We were pushed down by the people trying to go down, and then people started to fall down, row by row. "

Most of the deceased are young people and students aged from 16 to 36.

Xia Shujie is the deputy director of Shanghai No.1 Hospital.

"At around 12:05, a large number of the injured arrived at the hospital. Some of them suffered severe asphyxia, and some have already lost vital signs. There are others who suffered cervical damage and brainstem damage. "

Police are still looking into the cause of the accident, but some witnesses say the stampede was trigged as coupons that looked like U.S. dollar were being thrown from a building to the crowd below.

The coupons are printed with letters "M18", the name of a bar on the Bund.

Cui Tingting is a witness.

"I had indeed picked up a bank note from the ground but had thrown it away. The bank note looked green. We didn't really pay much attention at first, after we picked up, I said to my friend　it is a bank note. My friend said that is not possible, how come there is a bar code on it, then we just threw it away."

Some web users say they found pictures on the bar owner's micro-blog showing off the coupons before the incident.

But the blogger denied she threw away any coupons.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has asked authorities in Shanghai to do whatever it takes treat the injured and get to the bottom of the incident as soon as possible.

Shanghai has cancelled all New Year celebration events including a laser show scheduled for tonight.

For CRI, I'm Wang Wei.