THE injuries suffered by victims of a New Year's Eve stampede in Shanghai are mostly bone fractures, the local news media has heard from hospitals, though some were also psychologically traumatised.

The stampede on Shanghai's historic waterfront, at a time when it was packed with New Year's revellers, killed 35 people and injured at least 48 people, the city government said on Thursday, New Year's Day.

Photos from Chinese media agencies Xinhua and the China News Service, taken at the scene, showed many people lying on a rubbish-strewn street, and others trying to resuscitate them. Beyond that, a police cordon surrounds the area. At least one person, possibly a rescue worker, can also be seen in a photo pumping the chest of a shirtless man. Ambulances can be seen waiting nearby.

A video posted on Chinese video site Youku shows the police carrying the injured into police vans.

Another video on YouTube posted by CCTV also shows shoes and other personal belongings on the streets in the aftermath of the incident.

A photo on the website of the Shanghai Daily newspaper showed what appeared to be dead and injured people lying on the ground with crowds still in the background.

"I felt I was suffocating," wrote one poster on Sina Weibo, a Chinese equivalent of Twitter. "Some people with us will not come back."

The injured have been taken to at least three local hospitals, the Shanghai government said in a separate statement.

CCTV, quoting The Shanghai Evening News, reported that some victims were taken to the Shanghai Number One People's Hospital. Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital and the Central Hospital of Huangpu District are some of the other hospitals that received the wounded.

Eastday.com, a news website based in Shanghai, reported that Ruijin Hospital treated 10 injured victims, and most of whom had bone fractures and bruising of the chest area. They were in critical condition.

Some are dealing with psychological trauma from the incident, Eastday reported.

At a hospital lobby, hordes of relatives there were waiting for news, reported Reuters, but were frustrated with the lack of updates.

"Many relatives have asked to go inside and asked the hospital to give us a list of the injured, including the conscious and unconscious ones who are being treated in there, but nobody got back to us," Reuters quoted a relative who gave her only her family name, Fan.

"Six hours have passed, but we still don't have any information."

At the Shanghai Number One People's Hospital, over 20 police cars were outside the emergency room entrance, and officers did not let people enter, AFP reported. Some of the wounded were taken there.

A woman at the hospital, who was with relatives, was seen sobbing - her 12-year-old son was one of the injured.

"We don't know what is happening but we can't get in to see him," her older brother told AFP.

The Shanghai authorities have released photos of the city's mayor visiting victims in hospital, the South China Morning Post reported.

Xinhua said many of those who died and were injured were young students. Some were children.