In what’s usually a happy and festive time, tragedy struck in Shanghai, China.

A New Year’s Eve celebration turned tragic when a stampede occurred taking the lives of 35 people and injuring another 43 around a half hour before midnight.

Shanghai’s riverfront Bund area is where the awful event took place. According to NBC News the area “is often jammed with spectators for major events“.

The cause of the stampede hasn’t been determined yet. However, one witness said that coupons that looked like money were being tossed from a third floor window, causing  people to rush to get them.

Here is another account from the NBC News article, “We were down the stairs and wanted to move up and those who were upstairs wanted to move down, so we were pushed down by the people coming from upstairs,” an injured man told Shanghai TV. “All those trying to move up fell down on the stairs.”

It’s incidents like these that make it probably wise to avoid overly crowded places during New Year’s Eve and other busy occasions.

Find out more from NBC News here.