Stampede at the New York Pride parade after fireworks were mistaken for gunshots

A stampede erupted at a Pride march in the US city of New York on Sunday, with hundreds of people trying to flee after mistaking the sound of fireworks for gunshots, police said.

“NO shots were fired in Washington Square Park. Upon investigation, the sound was determined to be fireworks being set off at that location,” the NYPD said in a tweet shortly after the incident.

Police told AFP “there were no serious injuries” from the onslaught.

Frightened people ran or walked quickly down a street adjacent to the square after the shock, videos on social media showed.

Tens of thousands of people took part in the LGBTQIA+ Pride Parade on Sunday, which meandered through the streets of lower Manhattan under the blazing sun.

The atmosphere was largely celebratory, though the shadow of Friday’s US Supreme Court decision to abolish a constitutional right to abortion — leaving states free to legislate on the matter themselves — hung over the proceedings.

New York’s Pride March is the second largest in the United States after San Francisco, and Sunday’s gathering marked the first since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Organizers said the US Supreme Court’s decision on abortion was “devastating”.

“This dangerous decision puts millions at risk, puts government in control of our individual agency, and sets a disturbing precedent that jeopardizes many other constitutional rights and freedoms,” organizers said.

Many rights groups fear the abortion ruling could be the start of a broader push by the Supreme Court, currently dominated by a Conservative majority, to restrict other freedoms won in recent decades, such as the right to contraception and same-sex marriage.