At least five people were killed and 21 of others wounded in a stampede at the gates of the Etoug-Ebé secondary school in Yaounde this Monday, January 22.

A weeping morning in the city of Yaounde. The cause was to be found at the Etoug Ebe bilingual secondary school, where a stampede had occurred.

“We arrived at 7.30am, just as the national anthem was being sung. They blocked the gate. When they opened the gate for us to enter, there were so many of us. There was not enough space and we were not put in order. Everyone was pushing to get in. The supervisors and people from the cooperative started throwing stones at us and pouring water on us. Meanwhile, only one wing of the gate was open, and that is where we all had to go through. As we squeezed in, the taller ones climbed on top of the smaller ones. People fainted. That is when they started carrying the students to the hospital,” said a student from Etoug-Ebé high school who witnessed the scene.

In their rage, and while the survivors were being taken to local hospitals, some of the students vandalised the school.