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Chinese push and shove for last Games tickets

Unwashed, unfed and lacking sleep, tens of thousands of Chinese shouted, pushed and shoved for their last chance at Olympic tickets on a hot and smoggy Friday, threatening to break through barricades. Ticket hopefuls and security officials screamed back and forth as tempers flared just two weeks before the Beijing Games begin on August 8. Loudspeakers blared over and over again, telling people to queue patiently as minor scuffles broke out in the crowd and between reporters and police who struggled to keep order. "We are doing everything we can to keep the situation calm," a police spokesman told reporters, estimating the crowd at more than 40,000.

Image: An elderly Chinese man receives first aid from medical staff after he collapsed due to the heat, while waiting to buy the final batch of Olympic tickets near the Olympic Stadium in Beijing.

Text: Reuters | Photographs: AFP/Getty Images

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