1956 Yahiko Shrine stampede

1956 Yahiko Shrine stampede

Date	1 January 1956 (1956-01-01)
Location	Yahiko Shrine, Yahiko, Japan
Coordinates	37°42′23″N138°49′36″E / 37.70644°N 138.82661°E / 37.70644; 138.82661
Participants	35000–40000
Deaths	124
Non-fatal injuries	75
Property damage	collapsed shrine stone walls

Just after midnight in the morning of 1 January 1956 a human crowd crush and stampede at the Yahiko Shrine, Yahiko, Japan resulted in the death of 124 individuals and 75 others were injured.

Stampede

Around midnight of 1 January 1956, 35,000 to 40,000 people visited the Yahiko Shrine to pay the traditional honors on the occasion of the new year. ^[1] Just after midnight a stampede occurred on the steep steps leading to the shrine at the moment the priest started throwing down rice cookies, according to the tradition. The two-metres high stone walls on the sides of the stair collapsed due to the pushing by crowd. People were buried under the stones or fell down. ^[2]

Initial reports listed 112 deaths and 50 injured people. ^{[3] [4]} These numbers later increased to 124 deaths and 75 injured people. ^[5]

References

1. "124 Sjinto-pelgrims in gedrang verpletterd". De Maasbode (in Dutch). 2 January 1956. p. 2 – via Delpher.
2. "Gedrang bij Sjinto-heiligdom: ruim honderd doden". Leeuwarder Courant : Hoofdblad van Friesland (in Dutch). Leeuwarder Courant. 2 January 1956. p. 3 – via Delpher.
3. "112 JAPANESE DIE IN PANIC AT SHRINE". The New York Times . 1 January 1956.
4. "Ramp in heiligdom" (in Dutch). De Stem. 2 January 1956. p. 1 – via krantenbankzeeland.nl.
5. "Het aantal" (in Dutch). De Stem. 3 January 1956. p. 1 – via krantenbankzeeland.nl.