Lagos festival of Lights organised by LASAA

Millions of revelers took to the streets around the world from Sydney to New York, from Lagos to London to usher in 2015 on Thursday, but celebrations turned to tragedy in China, where 35 people were killed in a stampede in central Shanghai and in France, where a man killed his ex-lover and two other men before turning the gun on himself.

In Lagos, thousands of revellers, were joined at the Countdown 2014 party at the Atlantic City front by Governor Babatunde Fashola, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote and oil mogul, Femi Otedola as Africa’s mega city ushered in the year. Nigeria’s best known international stars such as Banky W, Tu Face, D Banj, Sheyi Shay and old stars such as Orlando Julius, Shina Peters and Sir Victor Uwaifo gave thrilling performances, that were capped midnight with fireworks and a spectacular lighting of the Lagos skyline. It was the third end-year festival of light show in the city of 20 million people, organised by Lagos State Signage Agency, LASAA.

Fireworks in Lagos. Photo: idowu Ogunleye

Sir Victor Uwaifo performing. Photo: Emma Osodi

Tu face at the New Year party in Lagos

dancing Time: revelers in Lagos

In New York, as many as a million partygoers braved frigid temperatures and poured into Times Square for America’s annual New Year party that this year featured pop sensation Taylor Swift.

Merrymakers in the Big Apple braved frigid weather wearing traditional festive top hats, kissing and snapping selfies as a giant illuminated crystal ball slid down a pole, touching ground at precisely the stroke of midnight.

As Times Square erupted in cheers and confetti, the rest of the globe celebrated with spectacular fireworks displays in cities from Sydney to Moscow.

Lights in Dubai on new year’s day. AFP

But chaos broke out in China’s financial hub as people packed the Bund district to welcome the New Year.

In addition to the dead, 42 people were injured in the crush, which happened shortly before midnight, Shanghai’s government said in a statement, adding that the incident was under investigation.

Official news agency Xinhua cited a witness saying coupons that looked like US dollar notes were thrown from a third-floor window and revellers along the river bank started to scramble for them.

France also recorded its own tragedy on New Year’s day, when a jilted lover suddenly emerged early today on a quiet street in Arras and shot dead his ex-lover and two other persons, in what the media,termed a crime of passion. The man later turned the gun on himself.

The 30-year-old also wounded three people, one seriously, with a hunting rifle in the attack, which took place in the early hours of Thursday morning on a quiet street in Arras, not far from the port of Calais.

The man “did not handle his split (from his former partner) well” according to initial police investigations.

Two of those shot dead were in their 50s, according to police. The killer was later found dead in his car by officers close to the local hospital.

Fireworks explode above the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye during the New Year celebrations

France and Shanghai offered tragic notes on a night filled with hopes for a more peaceful year than 2014.

The optimism was demonstrated in Australia, where an estimated one million people flocked to a massive fireworks display in Sydney Harbour, defying terrorist fears days after a deadly siege.

“We are celebrating that we are a multicultural, harmonious community but we will be thinking about what happened,” Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore said in reference to the deadly standoff when an Iranian-born gunman took 17 hostages in a cafe.

In Hong Kong, hundreds of thousands of people crowded the city’s promenades to watch an eight-minute pyrotechnic display after a year in which busy thoroughfares were paralysed for months by pro-democracy protests.

“I think a more peaceful year would be good for everybody,” said Louis Ho, 65.

Europe’s celebrations kicked off in Moscow, where red and green fireworks lit up the sky over St. Basil’s Cathedral, bringing “oohs” and “aahs” from the crowd braving sub-zero conditions.

President Vladimir Putin sent a greeting to his US counterpart Barack Obama, saying they had a mutual responsibility to ensure world peace after a year that has seen relations between Russia and the West sink to their worst point since the Cold War.

Dubai celebrated the new year with a light and sound extravaganza at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, which was lit up with different-coloured panels as the clock counted down to 2015.

– 19th eurozone nation –

London also welcomed the New Year, its skyline illuminated by a thunderous firework display in front of over 100,000 ticket holders gathered on the banks of the River Thames.

Further north, Edinburgh held its traditional Hogmanay street party although celebrations at the nearby Stirling Castle were cancelled due to high winds.

In Paris, the Champs-Elysees was closed off to traffic to allow pedestrians to watch a visual spectacle projected onto the Arc de Triomphe before a huge fireworks display greeted the New Year.

Tens of thousands of people gathered near the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin to watch fireworks and a free concert featuring “Baywatch” star David Hasselhoff.

“The Hoff” had the crowd singing along to “Looking for Freedom”, the song he performed 25 years ago as the Berlin Wall fell.

Roughly 20,000 people packed Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol square to ring in 2015, gobbling a grape on each of the 12 chimes of the clock at midnight for 12 months of good luck.

It was a particularly significant night for Lithuania, where leaders withdrew their first euro notes from a Vilnius bank machine after it became the 19th country to adopt the single currency.

– Remembrance for lost AirAsia flight –

Across Asia, revellers celebrated with fireworks and music, with hundreds of thousands crowding near the landmark skyscraper Taipei 101 to watch performances by pop singers.

But in Malaysia, a sombre mood prevailed after the crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 carrying 162 people and flooding in the northeast that has displaced almost 250,000.

Year-end celebrations have been cancelled, with many companies instead launching fundraising campaigns for flood victims.

In Indonesia, where most of the victims were from, New Year festivities in the capital started solemnly with a prayer for the victims while relatives gathered in Surabaya for a candlelit vigil in the hours before midnight.

Meanwhile in Afghanistan, the last French troops in the country held a ceremony in Kabul to mark the end of their deployment after NATO combat operations closed down as a new “train and support” mission takes over.

In the Americas, in addition to New York’s massive street party, celebrations were expected across the region, including in Brazil, where more than two million people were expected to attend a fireworks show on Copacabana beach to open celebrations marking 450 years since the founding of Rio de Janeiro.