Authorities release name of 36th victim of tragedy

A young man places mourning couplets at Chen Yi Square in the Bund (below), site of the tragedy on New Year's Eve that claimed 36 lives. [Photo by Lai Xinxin/For China Daily]

Shanghai local authorities yesterday named 18-year-old Liu Yajie as the 36th victim of the New Year's Eve stampede taking place in Chen Yi Square on the city's famous Bund waterfront district.

Of the 29 people still being treated for their injuries, nine are said to have been severely hurt, while "a few" remain in a critical condition, the Shanghai Health and Family Planning Commission said yesterday.

Officials said on Friday four people were in a critical condition. A total of 49 people — 27 men and 22 women — were injured in the incident, of whom 20 have since been allowed to return home.

All of the casualties were treated at Ruijin, Changzheng and Shanghai No. 1 People's hospitals, the commission said. As well as treatment for their physical trauma, patients and their relatives are being given psychological counseling, said Wu Jinglei, a commission spokesman.

Thirty-six people, including students of Fudan University, East China Normal University and East China University of Political Science and Law, were crushed to death as large crowds moving in opposite directions came together on the steps leading to the waterfront sightseeing platform at Chen Yi Square.

The youngest of the victims was 12-year-old Mao Yongjie, and the oldest 37-year-old Du Shuanghua.

Thirty-four of those killed were residents of the Chinese mainland, while one was from Taiwan and the other from Malaysia.

The scene of the tragedy has been cordoned off to allow people to lay floral tributes to the people who lost their lives.