STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: At least seven children and an older woman are dead tonight after a stampede at a fireworks show in Japan. CNN's Rebecca MacKinnon has details.</s>REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What should have been a festive summer evening turned into a nightmare. Tragedy struck as too many people tried to cross an overpass at the end of a fireworks display in the town of Akashi, 400 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. Eyewitnesses described being swept off their feet as a crowd tried to rush from a beach where they were watching the fireworks to a commuter train station on the other side. They described how the people became so crushed, many people began to have difficulty breathing. Then, panic set in as the desperate screamed and tried to fight their way out. One hundred fifty thousand people had attended this summer fireworks festival, an annual event in the area. According to local police, the youngest victim in the stampede was a 2-year-old child who suffocated. Emergency tents were set up around the site to handle the large number of people needing treatment. Rebecca MacKinnon, CNN, Tokyo.
Stampede at a Fireworks Show in Japan Kills Eight