NEW DELHI: At least five students were killed and 30 injured in a stampede in a government school in East Delhi on Thursday, TV reports said.

Officials at Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital said five of the injured students are in critical condition and have been put on ventilator.

The stampede happened after the students were asked to vacate the classroom following rumours of electrocution in the rainwater accumulated on the school premises following heavy rains in the national capital.

The heavy rain from last evening had left the school premises flooded and when the children were inside a rumour went around that the ankle-deep water was charged with electricity. The children panicked and started running helter skelter, leading to a stampede on a staircase, a police official said.
Joint Commissioner of Police Dharmendra Kumar has confirmed the number of dead students.

Out of the 27 students injured, 26 are girls. The students are reported to be between 14-18 years of age.

At the time of the incident, sources said, there were around 1,000 students inside the school and all of them were evacuated.

A large number of angry locals, including parents, gathered at the site and tried to enter the school premises but police did not allow them.

Sources said police have cordoned off the area. Parents alleged that the school authorities did not take proper care of their children.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has expressed shock at the incident.

Dikshit along with education minister Arvinder Singh Lovely visited the Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital where the injured are being treated.

source: TOI

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