800,000 yuan compensation for families of victims

Top officials in Shanghai's Huangpu district have been held responsible for a New Year's Eve stampede that killed 36 people on Shanghai's Bund, municipal authorities on Wednesday announced at a press conference.

According to a report released during the press conference, 11 officials have been punished. Four top district officials, including Zhou Wei, Party chief of Huangpu district, his deputy Peng Song, also district head, were removed from their posts.

Seven other officials in tourism, public security and urban management departments also received either administrative or disciplinary punishments.

The fatal stampede happened at midnight on December 31, 2014 when people assembled on the historic riverfront walk. The tragedy left 36 people dead and 49 injured.

Zhou Bo, Shanghai vice mayor and deputy head of a joint government investigation team for the stampede, expressed condolences for those affected by the incident and apologized to the victims and their families.

Families of the victims will each receive compensation of 800,000 yuan ($128,799), read a notice issued by the district government on Wednesday.

The report said the district government and related departments' heads had exercised "slack vigilance," and had failed to prepare properly and respond quickly to the tragedy.

It blamed the district public security bureau for negligence of duty, as it had not conducted a comprehensive risk evaluation beforehand, which led to inadequate police and security personnel deployed at the scene.

Only about 500 police and urban management personnel were deployed to the area, whereas about 310,000 people were in the vicinity of the Bund when the stampede occurred, according to the report.

The district public security bureau had also failed to issue early warnings to the district government, when the number of visitors increased rapidly in the hours before the incident.

The district tourism bureau was also held accountable for failing to inform the public about events on the Bund on New Year's Eve early and to issue safety reminders.

"The objective of holding officials accountable is to strengthen a sense of responsibility among department heads," said Wang Hongwei, an associate professor at the Renmin University of China, urging local authorities to consider how to strengthen prevention and response to emergencies.

Ten district officials who were having dinner near the stampede area when the tragedy occurred also violated the frugality campaign initiated by the central leadership, according to the local disciplinary watchdog.