Officials' alleged banquet on night of fatal stampede investigated

Shanghai authorities are investigating allegations of an opulent banquet held for district officials on New Year's Eve, the municipal disciplinary watchdog said Wednesday.

The investigation was sparked by reports by media outlets that at the same time as a fatal stampede, which left 36 dead and 49 others injured, Huangpu District officials were dining at a high-end restaurant in the same district.

A spokesman with the Communist Party of China's (CPC) Shanghai Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection confirmed that an investigation was underway.

According to media reports on Tuesday, the officials had eaten at a Japanese restaurant, where private room patrons spend on average 3,000 yuan (484 US dollars) per person.