Bangui, June 27: At least 29 students were killed and 260 others were injured in a stampede in the Central African Republic's capital city after an electrical transformer exploded while thousands of students were taking an exam at a high school.
Authorities in the city of Bangui said that the transformer exploded at Barthelemy Boganda High School while an estimated 5,000 students from five different local schools were taking a baccalaureate exam on Wednesday, June 25, according to the Associated Press, Reuters and the BBC.
The Central African Republic's Ministry of National Education told the outlets that the explosion occurred as power was being restored to the transformer after a malfunction.
Electrician dies of electrocution while repairing transformer
The Ministry of Health said that most of the victims who died, which included 16 girls, were pronounced dead at the scene. All of the other students who were injured were taken to local hospitals.
"I also offer our sincere condolences to the parents of the affected candidates and wish a speedy recovery to the injured candidates," Education Minister Aurelien-Simplice Kongbelet-Zimgas said in a statement, according to a translation from the BBC.
According to sources who spoke to Reuters and the BBC, the sound of the explosion and smoke billowing in the hallways made students think the building was going to collapse.
"There was panic, and some of the students jumped from the first floor," one source told Reuters.
A survivor who spoke to Radio France Internationale said that the blast took place as students were halfway through a history and geography exam, the BBC reported.
"The students wanted to save their lives, and as they fled, they saw death because there were so many people and the door was really small. Not everyone could get out," he said, according to the BBC.
“The building shook, and we were all terrified. It was every man for himself,” Alvin Yaligao, another student, told the AP.
