Chinese families demand release of Shanghai stampede victims' bodies after foreigners' remains are returned

Locals demand equal treatment from the authorities after the remains of only the foreigners are returned to their families

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Policemen guard the Bund in Shanghai, where 36 people died in a stampede last week. Photo: Reuters

Published: 4:15am, 5 Jan 2015Updated: 6:37pm, 5 Jan 2015

Dozens of relatives of those killed in the New Year's Eve stampede in Shanghai protested outside the gate of the municipal government building yesterday, demanding that the authorities compensate them and let them take the bodies of their loved ones home.

Many of the victims' bodies are still being kept in funeral homes by the authorities as investigation into the stampede continues, but the bodies of two foreigners - a Malaysian and a Taiwanese - have already been sent home.

Local families demanded the same prompt handling for their loved ones as well as compensation, but negotiations yesterday fell through after officials remained firm on not releasing the bodies, one relative said.

At least 36 people were killed and 49 injured in the stampede at Shanghai's riverside Bund late on Wednesday night, 25 minutes before New Year's Day. Most were in their 20s.

As of noon yesterday, 25 people remained hospitalised, including seven seriously injured, according to the Shanghai government. One was in the intensive care unit at the Shanghai No 1 People's Hospital.

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A young man from Chengdu, Sichuan province, who had lost his cousin in the accident, said the authorities were keeping a close watch over the relatives.