SHANGHAI — With a dazzling light show set to begin at midnight, a huge crowd of people had gathered for an outdoor New Year’s Eve in this city’s riverfront district. n Shanghai, the Bund (外滩) is 最受欢迎的旅游景点之一。 “我们当时就是想走上台阶看灯光秀，”and then people at the top began pushing their way down,” said a 20-year-old man. “Then I heard someone scream。”
By Thursday afternoon, at least 36 people had died in the accident and 47 were known to be injured. Most of the visitors were Chinese in their teens and 20s, who had hoped to ring in 2015 partying in the area, the Bund. In the Changzheng Hospital, the mother of a 16-year-old girl dropped to her knees when told that her daughter died.
In China, New Year’s Eve celebrations are a new affair, far less significant than the lunar Chinese New Year celebrations , usually in late January or early February. And yet, every year,the crowds that gather in major Chinese cities on Dec. 31 seem to get bigger and bigger.