New Year tragedy as 35 killed in Shanghai stampede

SHANGHAI, China – New Year celebrations turned to tragedy in China on Thursday when 35 people were killed in a stampede in Shanghai.

As the rest of the world ushered in 2015 with a spectacular fireworks displays in cities from Sydney to Moscow, chaos broke out in China’s financial hub.

The crush happened in crowded conditions shortly before midnight, as people packed the Bund district to welcome the New Year, the city’s government said in a statement.

An additional 42 people were injured in the accident.

The cause was under investigation, the statement said, adding local leaders had called for “every effort” to care for those hurt.

A photo on the website of the Shanghai Daily newspaper showed what appeared to be dead and injured people lying on the ground with crowds in the background.

The celebrations had been moved to a new location on the Bund, specifically out of concerns about overcrowding, after nearly 300,000 people turned out last year, the paper said.

Defiant Sydney crowds

It was a tragic note on a night filled with hopes for a more peaceful year than 2014.

The optimism was demonstrated in Australia, where an estimated one million people flocked to a massive fireworks display in Sydney Harbour, defying terrorist fears days after a deadly siege.

“We are celebrating that we are a multicultural, harmonious community but we will be thinking about what happened,” Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore said in reference to the drama when an Iranian-born gunman took 17 hostages in a cafe. Two hostages and the gunman died.

In Hong Kong, hundreds of thousands of people crowded the city’s promenades to watch an eight-minute pyrotechnic display after a year that saw busy thoroughfares paralysed by pro-democracy protests in the final months of 2014.

“I think a more peaceful year would be good for everybody,” said Louis Ho, 65.

Europe’s celebrations kicked off in Moscow, where red and green fireworks lit up the sky over St Basil’s Cathedral, bringing “oohs” and “aahs” from the crowd braving sub-zero conditions.

Russia enters 2015 locked in its bitterest standoff with the West since the Cold War, sparked by Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and the subsequent conflict in eastern Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin, who first came to power on New Year’s Eve 15 years ago, sent a greeting to US counterpart Barack Obama, saying the two countries had a mutual responsibility to ensure world peace.

But in a separate message to Russians, Putin defiantly said the people of Crimea had “firmly decided to go back home.”

Dubai celebrated the new year with a light and sound extravaganza at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower.

The 828-meter (2,716-foot) tower was lit up with different-coloured panels as the clock counted down to 2015.

19th eurozone nation

In Berlin, “Baywatch” star David Hasselhoff joined a huge open air concert in front of the Brandenburg Gate, where he famously sang for freedom after the Berlin Wall fell 25 years ago.

In Paris, the Champs-Elysees was closed off to traffic to allow pedestrians to watch a visual spectacle projected onto the Arc de Triomphe 15 minutes before the start of the new year.

It was a highly significant night for Lithuania as it became the 19th country to adopt the euro currency.

Baltic leaders withdrew their first euros from a Vilnius bank machine just after midnight.

Another Baltic state, Latvia, takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union, putting it on the frontline of negotiations with neighbouring Russia over the crisis in Ukraine.

In Spain, millions of revellers are descending on Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, while in Barcelona a massive fireworks display is being held.

London was staging New Year’s Eve fireworks along the Thames and Edinburgh is holding its traditional Hogmanay street party.

Remembrance for lost AirAsia flight

In Taiwan, the landmark skyscraper Taipei 101 was at the centre of celebrations, with performances by pop singers and a firework display at midnight attracted hundreds of thousands.

And in Japan, the Meiji Jingu shrine in Tokyo brought out stocks of lucky charms and set up large offertory boxes for a huge wave of worshippers.

But in Malaysia, a sombre mood prevailed after the crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 carrying 162 people in Indonesia and flooding in the country’s northeast that has displaced almost 250,000 people.

Year-end celebrations have been cancelled, with many companies instead launching fundraising campaigns for flood victims.

In Afghanistan, the last French troops in the country held a ceremony in Kabul to mark the end of their deployment after NATO combat operations closed down as a new “train and support” mission takes over.

Marking 2015 on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, more than two million people are expected to attend a huge fireworks show that will open celebrations marking 450 years since the founding of the city.

And in New York, about one million revellers were expected to descend on Times Square to watch the New Year’s Eve Ball Drop. – Rappler.com