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VENEZUELA-EXPLOSION-STAMPEDE
Death toll in Caracas club stampede rises to 18
CARACAS, June 21, 2018 (BSS/) – Venezuelan authorities on Wednesday revised
to 18 the death toll following a stampede at a crowded Caracas club over the
weekend.
The deaths occurred after a brawl broke out during a middle school
graduation party and someone detonated the tear gas, sending more than 500
people rushing for the exits, said Interior and Justice Minister Nestor
Reverol.
“The tear gas canister did not cause the death of these 18 people,” he told
journalists. “It was the stampeded of 500 people in the place who did not
have sufficient evacuation routes.
On Saturday, Reverol had said eight minors were killed in the incident.
On Wednesday he said eight people had been detained in connection to the
case, including an adolescent who “confessed” to having set off the tear gas.
There have been several incidents with tear gas over the past year in
Venezuela, but with no victims.
The country is grappling with a severe economic crisis and pressure for
President Nicolas Maduro to step down, amid a collapse in the price of oil,
leading to chronic food and medicine shortages.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1010 hrs