News / National
SA university registration stampede kills one
10 Jan 2012 at 10:47hrs | Views
Johannesburg - One person has died after a stampede broke out among crowds of people trying to enrol at a university in the South African city of Johannesburg.
"There was a person that was deceased," University of Johannesburg (UJ) spokesman Herman Esterhuizen said.
The victim was said to be the mother of a prospective student.
Around 10 000 people had pitched up at the campus on Monday hoping to be registered.
According to SABC News, hopeful students started queuing as early as 03:00 on Tuesday.
Tuesday's incident occurred as students queued for last-minute places at the university, registrar Marie Muller told eNews channel.
Applicants waited through the night and the stampede apparently happened just after the main gate was opened at 07:30 local time, emergency services spokeswoman Nana Radebe was quoted as saying.
More than 180,000 high school graduates are expected to be turned away from South Africa's nine top universities this year, said the Times newspaper.
It said about 74,000 students would fail to win a place at the University of Johannesburg alone.
Tuesday's incident occurred as students queued for last-minute places at the university, registrar Marie Muller told eNews channel.
One critically injured person has been taken to Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, Netcare 911's Jeffrey Wicks said.
"There was a person that was deceased," University of Johannesburg (UJ) spokesman Herman Esterhuizen said.
The victim was said to be the mother of a prospective student.
Around 10 000 people had pitched up at the campus on Monday hoping to be registered.
According to SABC News, hopeful students started queuing as early as 03:00 on Tuesday.
Tuesday's incident occurred as students queued for last-minute places at the university, registrar Marie Muller told eNews channel.
Applicants waited through the night and the stampede apparently happened just after the main gate was opened at 07:30 local time, emergency services spokeswoman Nana Radebe was quoted as saying.
More than 180,000 high school graduates are expected to be turned away from South Africa's nine top universities this year, said the Times newspaper.
It said about 74,000 students would fail to win a place at the University of Johannesburg alone.
Tuesday's incident occurred as students queued for last-minute places at the university, registrar Marie Muller told eNews channel.
One critically injured person has been taken to Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, Netcare 911's Jeffrey Wicks said.
Source - SABC
