Update | Four Shanghai officials to be sacked over New Year stampede that killed 36
Investigators hold lower-level bureaucrats largely responsible for loss of 36 lives on New Year's Eve, with municipality escaping censure
Blame for the deaths of 36 people in Shanghai on New Year's Eve was placed squarely on the shoulders of Huangpu district officials yesterday when the city government released the results of its investigation into the deadly stampede.
But state media and the victims' families questioned why the municipal authorities escaped responsibility for what was one of the worst tragedies of its kind in China in recent years.
The investigation report also revealed that 771 police and 180 security guards were initially deployed for the new year event. Of those, 350 police officers were sent to controls crowds at the riverside attraction and the main thoroughfare, Nanjing Road. The rest had other responsibilities such as counterterrorism and logistics. said 100 officers from the People's Armed Police were also at the scene monitoring the crowd.
Watch: China sacks four officials over Shanghai stampede
The authorities deployed the particularly thin blue line despite the presence of 120,000 people along the Bund by 8pm. By around 11pm, before the stampede, the crowds had swelled to 310,000.
