New Delhi, September 10: Five children were killed and 27 injured on Thursday in a stampede in a flooded government school in the Capital.
Thirty-one of the victims were girls. At the time of the incident there were reportedly around 1,000 students inside the school premises.
The stampede was sparked by rumours that electric current had leaked into the water that had flooded the school, police said.
The incident took place in a government-run school in Khajuri Khas in northeast Delhi on Thursday morning.
The heavy rain from Wednesday evening had left the school premises flooded and when the children came in the morning, a rumour went around that the ankle-deep water was charged with electricity.
The children panicked and that led to a stampede on a staircase, a police official said.
Confirming the number of dead and injured, Joint Commissioner of Police Dharmendra Kumar said the injured have been admitted to the Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital.
A large number of angry locals, including parents, gathered near the school and tried to enter the premises but police did not allow them.
Parents alleged that the school authorities did not take proper care of the children.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely visited the hospital where the injured have been admitted.
–Agencies