Shanghai New Year stampede kills 35 after fake dollar bills thrown into crowd

© AFP

This overhead view shows emergency vehicles (C) amongst the crowd after a stampede by new year's revellers in Shanghai's historic riverfront in Shanghai on January 1, 2015.

At least 35 people have been killed and 48 injured during a New Year's celebration in central Shanghai. The tragedy might have been caused by people rushing to pick up fake money thrown in the crowd.

The stampede happened shortly before midnight local time as a massive crowd was celebrating New Year in Chen Yi Square in Shanghai's Huangpu district, Xinhua reports.

The injured, many of them students, have been rushed to a number of hospitals in Shanghai, including Changzheng Hospital, the First People's Hospital, Ruijin Hospital, and Huangpu District Central Hospital.

Rescuers and first responders were deployed to the scene to help those wounded. The authorities have set up a working group to investigate the cause of the incident.

These fake $ bills rained down on a New Year's event in Shanghai, causing a stampede that killed 35 http://ift.tt/1BnAHJ2

- Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) January 1, 2015

Although the cause of the incident is still being investigated, state media and a witness said the stampede began when people tried picking up fake money thrown from a building overlooking the festivities.

Fake money had been thrown down from a bar above the street as a part of New Year celebrations, a man who declined to be identified told Reuters.

President Xi Jinping has ordered the Shanghai government investigate the incident as soon as possible and all other governments to ensure a similar disaster never happens again.

One week before the New Year celebrations, Shanghai authorities cancelled the annual New Year's eve 3D laser display which attracted nearly 300,000 people last year, according to The reason behind cancellation was allegedly concern about crowd control issues.

Photos showed large crowds of people gathered at Shanghai's waterfront area, The Bund, with a lot of police securing the area while the injured were receiving first aid on the road.