SHANGHAI — Like hundreds of thousands of other revelers, 24-year-old Pan Haiqin decided to ring in the new year on Shanghai’s famed riverfront as the skyscrapers flashed and sparkled. But as the crowd grew and then turned into an out-of-control crush of bodies, the real estate professional never made it up steps to a viewing platform to see the dazzling lights.

Nearly 20 hours later, her parents and friends identified her trampled body in a city morgue, one of 36 people killed in one of the deadliest accidents in this showcase Chinese city. Some 49 others were injured.

With authorities identifying 32 dead victims by name, hundreds of family members mourned the lost, who were mostly young women. On social media and TV airwaves, many Chinese were asking how such a tragedy could have happened in the heart of the country’s high-profile financial hub.

“I blame myself for it. I did not protect her,” said Pan’s boyfriend, Zhao Weiwei, his eyes welling up with tears. “She was a cheerful woman who worked so hard in this city.”

Shanghai is known for a better-oiled municipal government than most other Chinese cities, with its leaders supposedly savvier in managing traffic and crowds. But the latest incident has exposed gaping vulnerabilities in the city’s preparedness and emergency response system.

Authorities were still investigating the cause of the stampede late Wednesday night, but street vendors, residents, taxi drivers and other witnesses say the city failed to prepare for the massive turnout Wednesday night. Officials may not have expected such large numbers on riverfront area called the Bund after they canceled the much-hyped midnight light show and hosted a toned-down version at another location.

Zhao said the crowd descending from the platform crashed into him and his girlfriend and others at the bottom of the steps as they were trying to inch up.