__NOTOC__ The 2004 Miyun stampede (Chinese: 2004年北京密云灯会踩踏事故) also known as the Beijing lantern festival stampede was a human stampede that occurred in a crowded

lantern festival The Lantern Festival ( zh, t=元宵節, s=元宵节, first=t, hp=Yuánxiāo jié), also called Shangyuan Festival ( zh, t=上元節, s=上元节, first=t, hp=Shàngyuán jié), is a Chinese traditional festival celebrated on the fifteenth d ...

in Miyun District, Beijing, resulting in 37 deaths and 15 injuries.

Background

The Lantern Festival or the Spring Lantern Festival is a Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the

lunisolar A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, combining lunar calendars and solar calendars. The date of Lunisolar calendars therefore indicates both the Moon phase and the time of the solar year, that is the position of the Sun in the E ...

Chinese calendar. It marks the final day of the traditional Chinese New Year celebrations, and falls on some day in February or March in the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

Disaster

At the Mihong Park, when people were celebrating the lantern festival on a bridge, a spectator tripped on an open grate and fell, causing a chain-reaction of people falling upon each other. Wu Kun, a spokesman for the Beijing city government described the stampede:

''One person fell down on a grate in the park and caused many people to fall down, there was a stampede. It was a lot of people. I'm not sure how many. These things are packed.''

Aftermath

After the accident, Beijing Mayor Liu Qi, rushed to the scene of the disaster, and Hu Jintao and Premier

Wen Jiabao Wen Jiabao (born 15 September 1942) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the Premier of the State Council from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic polic ...

ordered local authorities to investigate how the accident happened and "''to try their best to save the injured and make suitable arrangement for the families of the dead.''" Two police officers, Sun Yong and Chen Bainian, were sentenced to three years in jail for

dereliction of duty Dereliction of duty is a specific offense under United States Code Title 10, Section 892, Article 92 and applies to all branches of the US military. A service member who is derelict has willfully refused to perform his duties (or follow a given o ...

by the 2nd Branch of Beijing Municipal People's Procuratorate.

References

External links

37 killed in Beijing lantern festival stampede
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China Daily ''China Daily'' () is an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Overview ''China Daily'' has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in China. T ...

'' (February 6, 2004)
At Least 37 Die In China Stampede
'' CBS News'' (February 5, 2004)
Stampede Kills 37 in Lantern Festival
'' China Internet Information Center'' (February 6, 2004)
Festival stampede in China kills 37
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United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20t ...

'' (February 5, 2004) {{DEFAULTSORT:2004 Miyun stampede 2004 disasters in China February 2004 events in China Human stampedes in 2004 Human stampedes in China Miyun District