Fourteen children died and dozens of others were injured in a stampede as they left their primary school in Kenya on Monday, local police said, with investigators still trying to ascertain the cause of the tragedy.
The police have launched an inquiry into what caused the crowd of students to panic, leading to the crush at about 5pm at the school in the western town of Kakamega.
In the aftermath of the stampede, the police cordoned off the school and took statements from the teaching staff.
Photo: Reuters
Images broadcast by local media showed parents gathered in front of the emergency ward of a hospital in the town, waiting for news of their children.
“We lost 14 of them,” Kenyan Cabinet Secretary of Education George Magoha told Citizen TV. “One life [lost] is a life too many.”
One of the children’s mothers blamed the teachers.
“Those who survived said they were running because there were teachers who were beating them, and that is why they were escaping and fell on each other,” the mother said in an interview with local media.
She said the children were mostly in grade five, and were aged 10 to 12.
Corporal punishment is banned in Kenya.
Kakamega Primary School did not immediately comment on the incident.
“We are devastated by the tragedy that has hit Kakamega Primary School this evening,” Kenyan Vice President William Ruto said on Twitter. “Our prayers, love and thoughts to the families and relatives of the victims of the misfortune.”
The Red Cross said on Twitter that it was setting up psychological support services, as well as a “tracing desk” to help relatives locate potentially affected students.
It said that 39 students had been admitted to a local hospital.
“As kids were going home from school there was a stampede as they were going down the stairs,” said Peter Abwao, a spokesman for Kenya Red Cross. “It’s a three-story building, it’s a classroom block.”
St John’s Ambulance meanwhile tweeted that more than 50 had been injured, including two who were in an intensive care unit.
About 37 had been treated and discharged from hospital, it said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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