LA PAZ, May 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A tear gas grenade set off during a university assembly in Bolivia triggered an stampede in which four students died and 50 were injured on Monday, officials said.
Tomas Frias University Rector Pedro López told Radio Panamericana that the students had gathered to elect new student body leaders at the school in the mountainous city of Potosi, some 420 kilometers south of La Paz, the capital.
“In the middle of the assembly, a tear gas grenade was detonated, which created a stampede,” he said. “Many students were trampled.”
Lopez told reporters that several of the injured students were in intensive care unit. He did not rule out a higher death toll.
An investigation was already underway to confirm the preliminary information about the gas grenade detonation in the arena, Lopez added.
Col. Limberth Choque, Potosi’s police chief, told state television that all four of the dead were female. — NNN-AGENCIES
