Eleven Shanghai Officials Sacked Over Deadly Stampede on New Year’s Eve

MOSCOW, January 21 (Sputnik) – Eleven district officials in Shanghai were punished for negligence and mismanagement Wednesday over the New Year’s Eve stampede that killed 36 people, ABC News reports.

Eleven officials, including the Communist Party Secretary for Huangpu District, his deputy, the district’s public security chief and deputy police chief, were removed from their positions, the BBC says.

The district level authorities were criticized for poor handling of the accident, failing to provide public safety. According to the investigation team, the incident could have been avoided.

“Preventative and response preparation was sorely lacking, early warnings on the night were weak, and the response measures were not suitable,” said Xiong Xinguang, a representative of the investigation team, as cited by the BBC.

The deadly stampede occurred on the Bund, a historic area with a view of Shanghai’s skyline, where tens of thousands had gathered to celebrate the New Year countdown. The investigation revealed that there were only 558 officers on duty, who were overwhelmed by the crowds of nearly 500,000 people. As a result, 36 people were trampled to death and another 49 injured, according to the New York Times.

Families of the dead victims will receive 800,000 yuan (US$129,000) in compensation, while those who got hurt will be paid damages according to the state of their injuries, Xinhua says.

The government also promised to improve and put in place better crowd management measures in the future to prevent such incidents from happening again.