'Ghosts' cause school stampede

2005-10-26 11:27

Beijing - Eight children were killed and 45 injured when students yelling "ghost" sparked a stampede on a darkened primary school staircase in China's Sichuan province, officials and reports said on Wednesday.

The accident occurred on Tuesday evening in the school in Guangna township when someone shouted "ghosts are coming" as students filed out of their evening classes, press reports said.

"Eight died and 45 were injured, five are in serious condition," said a spokesperson surnamed Xiang at the Tongjiang county government, which oversees the town.

"We are sure that there were some management problems at the school, you can't let so many classes out at one time because that is when things become crowded."

Rushed

Xiang said that as the students rushed down the stairs, one fell down and a surge of others stumbled over him, unable to stop as more students pushed from above.

It was the second stampede at a school this week. On Monday, 10 students were injured, one seriously, after a crush on a staircase in the Number 4 elementary school in Loudi city, Hubei province.

Last week, a young boy was killed and 64 other students were injured when the guardrail of a staircase at a primary school in the northwestern region of Xinjiang collapsed.

According to the local Huaxi Metropolitan Daily, there were no lights on in the hallway or the staircase at the Sichuan school when the accident occurred.

"After getting out of class, one student yelled out 'ghosts are coming', and others began joining in 'ghosts are coming' as they ran down the darkened halls to the staircase as the tragedy unfolded," the paper said.

According to teachers at the school, seven students were crushed to death at the scene, the paper said.

Tragedy

The local government immediately began an investigation into the tragedy, but has ruled out the school's stairway or walls being structurally unsound, Xiang said.

He refused to confirm the local paper's version of the incident.

The school is one of the oldest in the region, but the building itself was built only last year, he said.

Officials at Tongjiang county hospital also confirmed the death and injury toll, saying that most of the injuries were due to the children being crushed.

State press reports said that other than the five seriously injured students, the rest of those hurt were not in a life-threatening condition.

- AFP