Chenyi Square in the historic Bund district of Shanghai is now marred by the death of young souls on the most optimistic night of the year. What started as an annual way to celebrate the new year ended in a stampede in which people were crushed, knocked down and trampled. Officials are still trying to make sense of what happened.

Thousands of people were ascending and descending the stairs that led to a public waterfront. At 11:25 p.m. local time, chaos broke out when the crowd began moving both up and down the staircase at the same time, resulting in a stampede in which 36 people were killed and 47 people injured, 14 seriously. Some people jumped from the stairway to try and escape the crush.

A mother identified as Ms. Yin gave an account of what happened to her son: “Then people started to fall down, row by row… He had two deep creased scars on his neck, and his mouth and nose were bleeding.”

Another Shanghai woman identified as Sarah said, “People [started] jumping off staircase to get clear. She went on to say, “There was a quiet and then people on the stairs fell in waves.”

An investigation has begun to assess the police’s capacity to manage the huge crowds. The Shanghai police maintain that they were not aware that the crowd would grow so large. It is theorized that the stampede was the result of a lack in order and guidance.

There have also been reports of “fake money” that looked like American $100 bills being thrown from the balcony of a night club. Unidentified eye witnesses said that people began scrambling to grab the “coupons” from the sky and many picked them up off of the ground.

The police have decided that these reports are false.  They issued a statement saying that the “money” was thrown after the stampede took place, according to the video footage.  The police are still investigating the cause of the tragedy.

In the meantime, Shanghai citizens are gathered at hospitals waiting to identify family and friends that they have not been able to reach. Tempers are flaring as the police have been slow to bring pictures out for families who are worried about missing relatives. Many citizens have been seen crying hysterically either at the ongoing to confusion, or finding that the one that has been missing is among the number of people who have been killed or injured.

Perhaps what is raising eyebrows the most is the fact that  President Xi’s New Year message is the top story of the Shanghai media instead of the horrifying stampede. The communist government reserves the right to control its press, but journalists and spectators alike are waiting to find what the government will decide to do about the incident.

So far, most of the New Year’s Day festivities have been cancelled or “scaled back” in an attempt to prevent another stampede or crowd related incident. This should make other heavily populated places think about “crowd control” as well. Shanghai is not the only place that has seen death brought on by a rushing group of people. America has seen deaths on Black Friday caused by anxious, or ferocious, shoppers trying to be the first one to snag a deal.