25 students trampled in school stairwell

By Tom Qian  |   2008-12-18  |     ONLINE EDITION

TWENTY-FIVE students were trampled in a school stairwell in Chongqing Municipality on Tuesday, a newspaper reported today.

Five students suffered serious injuries in the accident.

The incident occurred after more than 3,000 Longshi Middle School students took part in a singing contest, according to a Chongqing Economic Times report.

At 9:40am on Tuesday, the school told more than 3,000 students to take their stools to the playground for a singing contest. When the contest ended students rushed to their classrooms upstairs to return their stools while others were going downstairs for lunch in the school canteen.

The students crowded into the stairwell, causing chaos.

"I was knocked to the ground and other students fell on me, one after another," an injured student was quoted as saying.

Teachers reacted quickly to report the accident and students were evacuated. The injured were sent to a nearby clinic, schoolmaster Ma Longcai told the newspaper.

The five students with serious injuries were yesterday transferred to Hechuan District Hospital.

All the students are out of danger now and education authorities are investigating the case, the report said.