FEATURED ARTICLE :

Scores injured in stampede at Cape rave
By Johan Schronen

Scores of revellers at a Cape Technikon freshers' party were injured when they were trampled by a stampeding crowd locked out of a packed hall.

Fifteen were taken to hospital.

Police spokesperson Andre Traut said things went wrong at the Cape Technikon's multi-purpose hall when 5 000 people arrived for a party on Friday to introduce new students to the campus. Traut said soon after midnight security staff closed the doors locking about 3 000 people out in the rain. By then there were already 2 000 in the hall.

A Metro Rescue doctor on the scene said injuries included bruising, suspected fractures and lower back injuries.

A campus control officer said "gate crashers and alcohol abuse" had caused the chaos. He said the technikon's management would do a "post mortem" of the incident to prevent a re-occurrence.

The officer said they had catered for 2000 students and when it started to rain on the crowd of at least 3000 outside tempers ran high and "all hell broke out".

Security staff were unable to handle the aggressive revellers and called the police. At first it was thought that many more were seriously injured and Western Cape Disaster Management was alerted.

Ambulances were sent from all over the Peninsula while traffic police closed roads around the complex but it later emerged that the situation was not too serious.

Traut said police would look into the arrangements for the party but no official investigation has been registered.

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