BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — An explosion and the stampede that followed killed at least 29 schoolchildren and injured more than 250 at a high school in Central African Republic’s capital city, authorities said Thursday.
The explosion occurred Wednesday at the Barthelemy Boganda High School in Bangui when power was being restored to an electrical transformer within the school premises after it malfunctioned, according to the country’s Ministry of National Education.
Most of the victims – including 16 girls – died at the scene after the explosion resulted in a stampede while others were confirmed dead at the hospital, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. At least 260 students were injured and being treated in various hospitals, the ministry said.
An estimated 5,000 students were at the school for higher-education exams at the time. Survivors recounted hearing a loud explosion from the transformer midway into the examination.
“The building shook and we were all terrified. It was everyone man for himself,” said Alvin Yaligao, one of the students.
Some of the victims died after jumping out of the building while others were killed in the stampede at the crowded entrance to the upper floors in an attempt to escape.
Many other students fainted amid the chaos and were rushed to the hospital, some of them transported on motorcycles.
Many people in the area were angered, accusing the government of negligence for not handling the problems with the electrical transformer. Government officials and workers who arrived at the scene were pelted with different objects by angry residents.
“We deplore this incident which was caused by a lack of maintenance,” Gédéon Cyr Ngaïssé, president of the school’s parents’ association, told reporters. He called for an investigation into the tragedy.
