Four students died and 70 were injured Monday, May 9 in a university in southeastern Bolivia during a stampede triggered by the explosion of a tear gas canister during an elective assembly, we learned from official sources.
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Between 400 and 500 students gathered in a gymnasium at a university in Potosi to hold student council elections, university rector Pedro Lopez told reporters.
According to the police, while the debates were heated between two groups of students, a tear gas canister was thrown, causing a movement of panic.
"
We have the confirmed deaths of four people, 70 are injured and five are in intensive care
," said the prosecutor of the Andean region, Roxana Choque.
The deceased died "
by asphyxiation
" and the injured had polycontusions or fractures, she said.
Interior Minister Eduardo del Castillo said an investigation has been opened and one of the students involved in the grenade throwing has been "
identified
".
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The public hospital in the mining town of 270,000 inhabitants was overwhelmed by the arrival of a large number of injured people and parents looking for their children.
Clashes between students are not uncommon in Bolivia and tear gas canisters had already been used in previous confrontations, without resulting in death.
In March 2021, 12 students died at the public University of El Alto, a neighboring town of La Paz, following the collapse of a bleacher during a student assembly.