Nearly 100 children hurt in northwest China school stampede

AFP, Nov. 29, 2010 –

BEIJING — Nearly 100 children were hurt in a stampede Monday at a primary school in China’s far-western Xinjiang region but no deaths have been reported, state media reported.

The accident occurred in the city of Aksu as school children were rushing outside to a playground around lunchtime when some students in the lead tripped and fell, Xinhua news agency said, quoting an unnamed city official.
The injured students were taken to a hospital for treatment, it said, adding that no deaths had been reported more than two hours after the accident.

The school in Aksu — located 650 kilometres (400 miles) southwest of the regional capital Urumqi — has more than 1,800 students, the report said.

Last week, a deadly stampede in Cambodia during the annual water festival left 351 people dead in the country’s worst tragedy in decades.

-AFP