Four people were trampled to death in Bolivia after a gas grenade disrupted elections at a university.
Four students were killed in a stampede after a chemical agent was dispersed inside a packed university sports hall in Bolivia on Monday, police said. According to reports, up to 80 were injured.
Rector Pedro Lopez said the students had gathered inside the building, at the Tomas Frias Autonomous University in the southern city of Potosi, to elect their representative to the Local University Federation.
The meeting immediately descended into chaos after someone threw a object into the crowd. Some reports said it was a tear gas grenade.
Videos and photos posted on social media show people fleeing the building and later tending to fellow students who were lying on the ground.
????#ÚltimaHora 4 muertos y 50 estudiantes heridos de la Universidad Autónoma Tomás Frías de Bolivia luego de que ocurriera una estampida humana.#Internacional #Notidiariohn pic.twitter.com/JUevqNGloT
— NOTIDIARIOHN (@notidiariohn) May 9, 2022
Police said that the suspect, also a student at the university, has been arrested. They did not release his identity or comment on possible motives.
President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora expressed his condolences to the victims.
smells cia