Media caption Relatives gathered at hospitals to await news of the victims, as John Sudworth reports 
 
 China's President Xi Jinping has demanded an investigation into Shanghai's New Year's Eve crush that killed 36 people and injured 47. The Shanghai government said on its official microblog that an inquiry had begun, and that all other New Year events had been cancelled. President Xi Jinping has asked the Shanghai government to get to the bottom of the incident as soon as possible, and ordered governments across the country to ensure a similar disaster could not happen again, state television said. Many places will hold festival gatherings and recreational activities for the upcoming Spring Festival, or the Lunar New Year, and the following Lantern Festival, he said. New Year celebrations in the Bund area went astray Wednesday night, when a stampede killed at least 35 people and injured 42 others. On New Year's Eve, Beijing also cancelled a countdown event in the central business district, Chinese media said, due to police fears about overcrowding. Police officer Cai Lixin said they did not have a large presence on the Bund as there were no formal New Year events planned, Caixin magazine said. 'People screaming' 
 
 The crush centred on a stairway leading to a viewing platform near the waterfront, as people tried to get up and down the steps, state broadcaster CCTV said. Another witness, who gave his family name as Wei, said there had been a problem away from the area where the fake bills were thrown, with people trying to get on to a raised platform overlooking the river.  SHANGHAI A stampede killed at least 36 people during New Year's Eve celebrations in Shanghai, authorities said, but police denied reports it was caused by people rushing to pick up fake money thrown from a building overlooking the city's famous waterfront. But Shanghai police said on their official microblog that while closed-circuit television footage did show some bills had been thrown from a bar in a building overlooking the Bund, which a small number of people picked up, this did not cause the crush. State media said many of the dead and injured were students, and 28 of the dead were women.
– The death toll from last night's stampede in Shanghai has risen to 36 as families demand answers about why so many people—hundreds of thousands—were allowed to gather in one area with so little crowd control. Among the developments: Lack of police: Authorities were worried days in advance about crowds and canceled all formal events at the riverfront area known as the Bund. As a result, "we did not arrange for as many police officers as last year's national day," says a police commander quoted by the BBC. Fake money thrown: China's Xinhua's news service quotes a witness who says someone threw coupons that looked like US dollar bills from the third floor of a building overlooking the Bund, which set off a scramble. But police quickly rejected that as the cause of the crush. "This incident happened after the stampede," said a police statement. Raised platform: A different witness says the main problem seemed to be at a different area, where throngs of people were trying to get onto a raised platform overlooking the river, reports Reuters. "We were caught in the middle and saw some girls falling while screaming. Then people started to fall down, row by row." Chinese President Xi Jinping today demanded a thorough investigation.