About
seven college students have met their untimely death after a university balcony
railing broke.
The
students were filmed falling to their deaths at the Public University of El
Alto (UPEA), in a highland city near La Paz, Bolivia, when a balcony in one of
the University’s block was congested with students and this led to a railing
collapsing on the fourth floor.
According
to reports, about eleven students fell off from the fourth floor after the rail
broke with seven confirmed dead and the four others hospitalized with serious
injuries.
A video
recorded by a bystander in the university building showed the balcony of the
fourth floor where the rail broke filled with dozens of students jostling for
position in a crowded hallway as they attempted to enter a lecture hall for an
assembly Tuesday.
Due to
the congestion, some students could be seen leaning on the rail when a section
of it suddenly broke, sending them falling to the ground four floors below.
The dead
victims were identified as Raúl Cadena; Genio Mamani; Saúl Mamani; Daniel
Rodríguez; Anahí Chipana; Loida Sosa; and Tania Roque, according to Bolivia’s
Special Force to Fight Crime.
Reacting to the news of the unfortunate demise of
the students, the University released a statement saying: “The university
declares mourning for seven days at the Public University of El Alto due to the
unfortunate events that occurred on the morning of this day, March 2.”
The
accident occurred in the university’s financial sciences building.
Speaking
about the incident, Colonel Jhonny Aguilera, the Bolivian Police chief, told
reporters that the students’ cause of death was “multiple defenestration
trauma.”
Aguilera said the students’ remains would be
directly turned over to their family members in order to avoid any incidents
that could delay their burials while officers carry out an investigation into
the cause of the fatal accident.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT.
Watch the video below.
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