SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A stampede during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Shanghai left 36 people dead, authorities said, but police denied reports it started when people ran to collect counterfeit money pier from a building in the famous waterfront district of the Bund.

The government of China’s financial capital said crowds began pouring into Chen Yi Square on the Bund just before midnight. It is the worst disaster to hit the city since 58 people died in a building that caught fire in 2010.

The cause of the stampede is still under investigation.

State media and witnesses said it was at least partly caused by people trying to collect coupons that looked like bills.

But Shanghai police said on their official microblog that while CCTV footage showed coupons being thrown from a bar in one of the Bund buildings, which some people had picked up, it did not trigger the stampede.

“This incident (the throwing of counterfeit notes) occurred after the stampede,” police said in a brief statement, without stating the actual cause.

A witness, who went by the name Wei, said there were also problems outside the area where the counterfeit notes were dropped, as groups of people tried to climb onto a platform above. above a river.

Xinhua news agency said the people became trapped after falling on the steps leading to the platform.

State media reported that many of the dead and injured were students and that 28 of those killed were women.

The Shanghai government said it had launched an official investigation and other New Year’s Eve events had been canceled.

Some Chinese media have published criticism of the authorities for the lack of adequate planning and police oversight.

Police officer Cai Lixin said there was no significant presence at the Bund as no events had been scheduled.

Foreign media did not have access to the police press conference, underscoring the government’s sensitivity to any critical coverage of the disasters.

Authorities had expressed some concern about crowd control in the days leading up to the New Year. They had recently canceled a 3D laser show on the Bund, which last year drew 300,000 people.

On New Year’s Eve, Beijing also canceled an event in the financial district, Chinese media said, over fears that too many people would gather.

Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the Shanghai government to shed light on the incident as soon as possible and ordered local governments across the country to take measures to ensure such disasters do not occur, said said state television.

Photos posted on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, showed crowds of people gathering along the Bund, the tree-lined promenade that crosses the city on the Huangpu River.

In some photographs, rescuers could be seen trying to help the victims. Ambulances were also seen waiting for the transfer of the injured.

In 2004, 37 people died in a stampede in northern Beijing during a Chinese New Year celebration.