REST IN PEACE: People mourn for the victims of the stampede at Chen Yi Square on January 3 (DING TING)

"I feel terribly guilty that I couldn't protect you. Watching you die in my arms is a nightmare that will haunt me for the rest of my life," wrote Zheng Hong (pseudonym) on social networking website Renren.com, after his girlfriend died in a fatal stampede in Shanghai.

Zheng's girlfriend, Du Yijun, was a 20-year-old student at the prestigious Fudan University in Shanghai. During New Year's Eve, they went together to the Bund, located along the riverbank on the west side of the Huangpu River in Shanghai. The area makes for a popular destination for New Year celebrations, with its historic architecture and skyscrapers along the river displaying dazzling light shows at night.

The Bund was as bustling as it was during previous New Year's Eve festivities. But nobody could have predicted that a deadly tragedy would occur just before the ringing in of the new year.

Eyewitness accounts

According to the Huangpu branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, the Bund area became increasingly crowded after 8 p.m. on December 31, 2014.

At around 11:30 p.m., the flow of tourists surged irregularly and around 500 police officers were mobilized after a surveillance camera showed that a passageway near Chen Yi Square was congested with people.

Many people became trapped near the steps at Chen Yi Square that adjoin the platform and a major road, as many more swarmed up in search for a better view.

"The steps leading to the platform were full of people. Some wanted to get down and some wanted to go up," said a witness surnamed Yin, who was at the scene with her son. "We were caught in the middle and saw some girls scream as they fell. Then others started to fall down, row by row."

"The crowd was in a panic. We stood in the crowd, feeling squeezed and almost out of breath," said another witness surnamed Yu. "Some yelled for help, but it was too noisy."

The chaos escalated and some people were forced to the ground and were trampled by crowds. "The chaos lasted several minutes, and then some of the injured were carried out of the crowd," Yu said.

Zheng and his girlfriend Du were among those trapped. "I tried to use my elbow to protect her, but the strength of the crowds was so strong that I couldn't do anything."

The commotion grew as more people were squeezed to the ground and trampled.

The police struggled to pull out trapped people from the crowd at the beginning.

"Layers of people fell to the ground and couldn't stand back up," said Wei Yong, who was at the staircase with his wife and three other friends.

"We were trying to go up to the platform but at the fifth or sixth step, people were suddenly pushed down to the ground and my wife and three other friends all of a sudden disappeared in the falling crowd," said Wei, who struggled to stay upright. "Many people couldn't even put their feet on the ground and could do nothing but sway with the crowd."

In one video clip of the incident posted online, several young people standing on the platform near Chen Yi Square shouted at the tightly packed crowd to step back.

"I was on the platform with three friends," said a young man who was one of those shouting to the crowd. "We saw people falling on the lowest step of the staircase and the number of people on the platform was far bigger than what it could hold. People held hands to form a pathway through the crowd so the injured could be evacuated."

It took about 10 minutes for the fallen people to move, with some able to stand up with the help of police and other people.

Wei found his wife but one of their friends, Gu Yinli, was motionless and later died in the hospital. "We had no idea how it happened," said Wei.

In the hospital, Wei met the friends and relatives of the other victims. The youngest victim was a 12-year-old boy who was separated from his mother in the crowd.

"It is horrific and hellish," said Wei.

As of January 8, there were 36 people who died in the stampede. Most were in their 20s, with the majority being women.

President Xi Jinping on January 1 demanded an immediate investigation into the cause of the stampede and urged prevention of such incidents in the future.