Twenty-nine students who were writing their school exams in the Central African Republic (CAR) have been killed in a crush after a nearby explosion caused panic, a hospital director confirmed.
The explosion, on the second day of the high-school finals on Wednesday, occurred at an electricity transformer, said Abel Assaye from the Bangui community hospital.
“The noise of the explosion, combined with smoke” caused alarm among the almost 6,000 students sitting the baccalaureate at a school in the capital, Bangui, local radio station Ndeke Luka reported.
CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadéra has declared a period of national mourning.
He also ordered that the more than 280 people injured in the accident receive free hospital treatment.
Students from five different schools in the city had come to the Lycée Barthélémy Boganda to take the baccalaureate examination.
According to the education ministry, the explosion occurred after power was restored to the electricity transformer, which was placed on the bottom floor of the main building and was undergoing renovations.
“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.
He also announced the suspension of the exams till further notice.
Recounting the incident, a female survivor said, “I don’t even remember what happened. We were in the exam room, and when I heard a noise, I immediately fell into a daze. Since then, I have had a pain in my pelvis that is causing me a lot of problems.”
Magloire explained that the explosion happened during the history and geography exam.
“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 told RFI.
