Be aware of the cause of Shanghai stampede

Apart from praying for the victims of the Shanghai New Year's Eve stampede on Tuesday, which is the seventh day, a traditional day to mourn the dead in China, thinking about how such a tragedy can be prevented in the future is a must.

It has been suggested that the uncivilized behavior of some people in the crowd was primarily responsible for the tragedy. However, such accusations do not hold much water as such stampedes have happened in many countries and they have little to do with the overall nature of the crowd.

While it is necessary to raise people's awareness of how they should act in such a crowd, it is even more important to look at how such crowds should be managed, what arrangements be made and how they be applied to special occasions for easy and safe evacuation of big crowds.