Bolivia: Seven students fall to their deaths at the university

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El Alto Public University (UPEA): Fatal accident

Photo: Radoslaw Czajkowski / dpa

At least seven students died when they fell from the fourth floor of a university building in Bolivia.

The Bolivian government said five other students were seriously injured in the incident at the Public University of El Alto (UPEA) near La Paz.

The accident happened when a railing in the building gave way.

According to the Bolivian news agency ABI, after a meeting there was an argument with fights.

The railing to the auditorium of the university is said to have broken off during the tussle.

It was only very lightly attached, they said.

On video recordings of the incident, numerous students could be seen in a narrow passage on the way to an auditorium.

Then the railing comes loose and several people fall from the fourth floor onto the concrete floor.

Five people in critical condition

According to local media reports, emergency doctors, firefighters and the police tried to provide help on site.

The students were taken to various hospitals.

"Seven people died and five are in critical condition as a result of this incident, and some of them have been stabilized," said Health Minister Jayson Auza.

The dead were therefore students aged 20 to 24 years.

Interior Minister Eduardo del Castillo ordered an investigation.

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wit / dpa / AFP