Eight dead, 26 injured in central China school stampede

• Source: Xinhua
• [11:16 December 08 2009]
• Comments

A man stands near the bloodstain in the privately-run Yucai Middle School in Xiangxiang, a small city in Xiangtan, central China's Hunan Province, Dec. 8, 2009. Eight teenagers were confirmed dead and 26 others injured in a trampling accident here on Monday evening. (Xinhua Photo)

Eight teenagers were confirmed dead and 26 others injured in a stampede at a central China school Monday night, local authorities said early Tuesday.

Students and teachers at the privately run Yucai Middle School in Xiangxiang, a small city in Xiangtan, Hunan Province, were in tears and stood in tribute before classes began Tuesday to remember the dead and pray for the injured.

 Classes were undisrupted Tuesday, but the campus remained gloomy, with students exchanging worried looks and anxious parents peeping in to make sure their children were doing well.

Many teachers continued working after a sleepless night. "It's like a nightmare," said school official Chen Xinwei. "It's hard to believe those children are gone forever."

Seven boys and a girl, aged from 11 to 14, were killed and another five were seriously injured in the stampede at around 9:10p.m., after the students' evening study session.

The students were surging toward a staircase to go downstairs to their dorms when a girl tripped and caused dozens to lose their balance and fall in a 3 to 5-square meter area.

The injured students were being treated at three hospitals in Xiangxiang. As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, three slight cases were allowed to go home.