Stampede at South African university kills one, injures 22

2012-01-11 09:42:38 GMT+7 (ICT)

JOHANNESBURG (BNO NEWS) -- A woman was killed on early Tuesday morning and nearly two dozen others were injured during a stampede at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, emergency officials said.

The woman was crushed when approximately 5,000 prospective students attempted to enter the university's Bunting Road Campus. The woman, identified as the mother of a prospective student, sustained severe head and chest trauma, a Netcare 911 spokesman said.

"She was intubated and placed on a manual ventilator at the scene and transported by ambulance to the specialist hospital for further care," Netcare 911 spokesman Jeffrey Wicks said. Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar later confirmed the woman, believed to be in her early 30s, had died.

In addition to the fatality, 22 others were treated for injuries, including seven people who were seriously injured. "They were also be transported by ambulance to area hospitals," Wicks said, adding that the cause of the stampede was not immediately known.

University of Johannesburg Vice Chancellor Ihron Rensburg was also unable to reveal full details about the incident during a media briefing. "We will announce the outcomes of the investigation at a later stage," he said. Minaar said dozens of officers were at the institution to control traffic at the university.

The stampede happened as students were queuing for last-minute registrations at the university. Rensburg said the volume of applications for the current academic year is 85,000, significantly higher than the 67,000 of last year.

The University of Johannesburg is one of few universities in the country which accepts last-minute applications from prospective students who achieved unexpected university entrance passes. Tens of thousands of high school graduates are expected to be turned away this year.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) condemned the incident, saying it highlights a fundamental problem in the country. "South Africa desperately needs more qualified and skilled graduates, if we are to transform our economy and bring down the levels of unemployment and poverty. Yet students have to battle to gain admission to universities and then to pay the fees that are demanded," a statement said.

According to COSATU, the University of Johannesburg received 85,000 applications for 11,000 first-year places. The University of the Witwatersrand received 30,000 applications for 5,500 spaces, the University of KwaZulu-Natal 61,500 applications for 9,000 places and the University of the Free State 13,000 applications for 4,000 places.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-01-11

The stampede happened as students were queuing for last-minute registrations at the university.

I hope the press in my country picks up on this. These people died in the rush to register for university. Over here people die in the rush to buy the new Michael Jordan sneaker.