Shanghai tragedy: authorities censor local and foreign media
Shanghai (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Shanghai authorities have imposed strict censorship on local and foreign coverage of Wednesday night's deadly Bund stampede.
Local sources told the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's English language newspaper, that censorship was "unprecedented and harsh" with officials worried that they could be blamed for the stampede that killed at least 36 people.
Relatives and victims were under close police guard and local and foreign media were told that they needed Shanghai propaganda department permission to speak to the injured.
The Communist Party's propaganda department issued several notices to local media in the past two days, instructing them on various issues, ranging from the scale of coverage and use of photos to interview protocols.
"It seems ridiculous that local newspapers were instructed not to use photos showing people mourning for the dead victims," a senior newspaper official said, anonymous for security reasons.
State media and government officials are expected to play down gradually the incident by describing it as a simple accident, sources told the South China Morning Post.
Some social media reports initially suggested that the incident might have been triggered by a large amount of banknote-shaped coupons raining down from a nearby building, but Shanghai police dismissed this as the cause of the stampede as only a few people came to pick them up.
Nevertheless, Huangpu police admitted that they underestimated the turnout on the Bund, deploying fewer officers for the event than were needed. "A lot of heads will roll", a senior police source said.
At least 49 were injured, including 19 seriously, in the midnight stampede. The wounded include a Malaysian and a Taiwanese. State media also reported the death of a Taiwanese national.
Most of those killed and injured in the stampede were young people in their 20s, including college students, the official Xinhua news agency said.
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05/01/2015
07/04/2016 15:52
