Johannesburg university stampede kills one

January 10th, 2012 - 9:23 pm ICT by Aishwarya Bhatt  

Johannesburg, Jan 10 (THAINDIAN NEWS) One person has been confirmed dead with two others listed as critically injured following a stampede at the Johannesburg University. Prospective students queued outside the gate of the university on Tuesday ahead of admission procedure.

When the gate was finally opened, a stampede broke out and a mother of a prospective student ended up losing her life. University officials say the woman suffered severe and chest trauma following the incident.

Officials say tens of thousands of high school graduates have applied to be considered at the university. However due to limited resources, the university say about 74,000 of them will be turned down. Nationwide, officials say about 180,000 students will fail to get admission into the nine top public universities in the country.

Officials of the university blamed the incident on Tuesday to the last minute rush by students to get registered. Officials say they registered more than 5,000 students on Monday and the numbers kept swelling. Some of the applicants spent the night at the gate to ensure that they get in early. The gate was not opened until 07:30 local time.

High unemployment rate in the country is pushing many people to seek higher education in a bid to increase their chances at the job market.

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