Tens of thousands of people attended Sunday’s LGBTQIA+ Pride parade, which wound its way through the streets of lower Manhattan under the blazing sun….reports Asian Lite News
A stampede occurred at a Pride parade in the US city of New York on Sunday, with hundreds of people attempting to flee after mistaking the sound of fireworks for gunfire, media reported.
“There were NO shots fired in Washington Square Park. After an investigation, it was determined that the sound was fireworks set off at the location,” the news agency AFP quoted New York Police Department’s statement.
The officers told AFP “there were no serious injuries” from the stampede.
Terrified people ran or walked briskly along a street adjacent to the square after the scare, videos on social media showed, it was reported.
Tens of thousands of people attended Sunday’s LGBTQIA+ Pride parade, which wound its way through the streets of lower Manhattan under the blazing sun.
New York’s Pride parade is the second-largest in the United States, after San Francisco, and Sunday’s gathering was the first time it had taken place since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
Meanwhile, the three states of California, Oregon and Washington in the US West Coast announced that they will continue protecting abortion access despite the Supreme Court overturning its 50-year-old landmark Roe v. Wade decision which granted women a constitutional right to abortion.
The Governors of these states issued a Multi-State Commitment on Friday to defend access to reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives, and committed to protecting patients and doctors against efforts by other states to export their abortion bans to the West Coast states, reports Xinhua news agency.
“This Multi-State Commitment affirms the governors’ commitment in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s unprecedented decision to strip away a constitutional right that has been in place for half a century, leaving abortion regulation to the states,” Office of the Governor of California said in a statement.
“The sweeping decision means that for patients in more than half the country, home to 33.6 million women, abortion care is illegal or inaccessible.”
The three Governors also released video messages, condemning the latest ruling and sharing the view that the West Coast would remain a place where reproductive health care will be accessible and protected.