A stampede killed at least 35 people and injured 43 during New Year's Eve celebrations in Shanghai, on the city's famed waterfront tourist strip known as the Bund, authorities said.
The incident started at 23:35 local time (15:35 GMT) and that a "working group" had been established to handle the incident, the Shanghai City government said on its Weibo social media account.
Authorities say they have yet to confirm what caused the stampede, with officials saying an investigation is underway.
State media and a witness said the incident was caused when people tried picking up fake money thrown from a building.
A man who brought one of the 43 injured to a local hospital for treatment said fake money had been thrown down from the windows of luxury club Bund No. 18.
People rushed to pick up the money, triggering the stampede, said the man, who declined to be identified.
Eastday.com and Sina quoted the witness as saying the grab for fake money happened 20 minutes before midnight.
The identities of the injured have not been revealed, but the official Xinhua news agency said many of those wounded were students.
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 still in the background. State TV footage showed abandoned footwear littering the area and a line of police vans with sirens flashing.
Video purporting to document the incident has been posted on the video sharing website Youku.
The Bund, renowned for its pre-Chinese revolution architecture, is the former financial district of the country's commercial hub and now a popular tourist destination, packed with high-end restaurants and expensive boutiques.
By dawn, there was little evidence of the disaster beyond a lone police van with flashing lights and rubbish discarded by celebrants.
Fake currency has long been burned at Chinese funerals to ensure the dead have money in the afterlife, and nowadays is also frequently used as an advertising medium.
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 still in the background. State TV footage showed abandoned footwear littering the area and a line of police vans with sirens flashing. - See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2015/01/01/shanghai-stampede-sparked-by--fake-money-.html#sthash.EzVIF2tM.dpuf
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 still in the background. State TV footage showed abandoned footwear littering the area and a line of police vans with sirens flashing. - See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2015/01/01/shanghai-stampede-sparked-by--fake-money-.html#sthash.EzVIF2tM.dpuf
Distressed families desperate for news
More than 20 police vehicles were outside the Shanghai Number One People's Hospital, one of at least three facilities where the injured were taken, and officers prevented people from entering.
Dozens of distraught relatives gathered in the hospital lobby waiting for news, with some expressing frustration over a lack of information.
"Many relatives have asked to go inside and asked the hospital to give us a list of the injured, including the conscious and unconscious ones who are being treated in there, but nobody got back to us," said a relative who gave her family name as Fan.
"Six hours have passed, but we still don't have any information," she added.
The mother of an injured 12-year-old boy sat in a chair crying surrounded by relatives.
"We don't know what is happening, but we can't get in to see him,' said her older brother, declining to be named.
Xi Jinping tells Shanghai authorities to learn lessons
President Xi Jinping has told the Shanghai government to get to the bottom of the incident as soon as possible and learn the lessons, and ordered governments across the country to ensure a similar disaster cannot happen again, state television said.
The Shanghai government said on its official microblog that an inquiry had begun.
Shanghai mayor Yang Xiong and politburo member Han Zheng have visited the injured in hospital and have vowed to deploy all resources to rescue the wounded, Eastday.com reports.
This year's 'countdown' reportedly included a light show, singing performances and finally fireworks.
A new location was chosen specifically due to concerns about overcrowding after nearly 300,000 people turned out to see in 2014, the Shanghai Daily newspaper said.
This year's 'countdown' reportedly included a light show, singing performances and finally fireworks.
A new location was chosen specifically due to concerns about overcrowding after nearly 300,000 people turned out to see in 2014, the Shanghai Daily newspaper said.
- See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2015/01/01/shanghai-stampede-sparked-by--fake-money-.html#sthash.EzVIF2tM.dpuf
Scenes of carnage
Photographs on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, showed densely packed crowds of revelers along the Bund, which is lined with buildings from Shanghai's pre-communist heyday on the bank of the Huangpu River.
In some photographs, rescue workers were seen trying to resuscitate victims lying on the pavement while ambulances waited nearby.
A shirtless man receives CPR at the scene of the stampede (Weibo)
Crowd control concerns before stampede
Authorities had shown some concern about crowd control in the days leading up to New Year's eve. They recently cancelled an annual 3D laser show on the Bund that last year attracted as many as 300,000 people.
At dawn on Thursday, there were still small crowds of revelers trying to find taxis home and workers were clearing up trash strewn around the Bund. There was little sign of the mayhem that had broken out just hours earlier.
A video posted on Instagram before the stampede purported to show large crowds enjoying a concert.
The deaths and injuries occurred at Shanghai's popular riverfront Bund area, which can be jammed with spectators for major events.
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