NAIROBI, Feb 4, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – At least 13 children died and dozens of
others were injured in a stampede as they left their primary school in Kenya
on Monday, local police said, with investigators still trying to ascertain
the cause of the tragedy.
The police have launched an inquiry into what caused the crowd of students
to panic, leading to the crush at around 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) at the school in
the western town of Kakamega.
In the aftermath of the stampede, the police cordoned off the school and
took statements from the teaching staff.
Images broadcast by local media showed parents gathered in front of the
emergency ward of a hospital in the town, waiting for news of their children.
“We lost 13 children in this stampede and others are in hospital due to
injuries,” Kakamega’s police chief David Kabena told reporters at the scene.
“We have launched an investigation to establish what exactly happened,” he
added.
One of the children’s mothers blamed the teachers.
“Those who survived said they were running because there were teachers who
were beating them, and that is why they were escaping and fell on each
other,” the mother said in an interview with local media.
She said the children were mostly in grade five, aged between 10 and 12.
Corporal punishment is banned in Kenya.
The Kakamega Primary School did not immediately comment on the incident.
“We are devastated by the tragedy that has hit Kakamega Primary School
this evening,” said Kenya’s Vice President William Ruto in a post on Twitter.
“Our prayers, love and thoughts to the families and relatives of the
victims of the misfortune.”
Kenya Red Cross said on Twitter that it was setting up psychological
support services, as well as a “tracing desk” to help relatives locate
potentially affected students.
The Red Cross said 39 students had been admitted to a local hospital.
St John’s Ambulance meanwhile tweeted that at least 14 students had been
killed and more than 50 injured, including two who were in an intensive care
unit. Some 37 had been treated and discharged from hospital.
The tragedy comes just two days after 20 people were killed in a stampede
at an open-air evangelical Christian church service over the border in
Tanzania.
In 2016, nine students were killed by a fire at a girls’ high school in
the Kibera neighbourhood of Kenya’s capital Nairobi.