Students were injured in a stampede that broke out at an Intervarsity party on Saturday 17 August.
Students were injured in a stampede that broke out at an Intervarsity party on Saturday 17 August.
Several students suffered broken arms and one broke a leg at the annual sporting event hosted this year by Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
Artists such as Sizwe Dlomo, AKA, Roger Goode and Ralf Gum were booked to perform at an after party at Rag Farm on Saturday night.
According to Rhodes SRC President Sakhe Badi, close to 5 000 party-goers were allowed into a venue with an official capacity of 2 500, and there was only one entrance.
"The crowd got out of control," he said. "People were intoxicated, pushing one another."
Exacerbating the situation was what Badi called a serious lack of visible security. He said safety officials present were not clearly identifiable, and there were no paramedics on the scene.
Badi says the stampede broke out when students turned and ran to escape security guards using pepper spray and tasers in an effort to disperse the large crowd.
"They were trying to control a crowd that could not be controlled," he said.
According to Badi, students who turned and ran were pushed over and trampled, with fights breaking out as they tried to flee.
Rhodes SRC members at the venue organised emergency transport for students, but according to Badi, NMMU SRC officials seemed "unfazed" by the events.
"I think they could have done more," he said. "[They] were afraid to leave the VIP area for fear of being beaten up."
The NMMU SRC have yet to release a statement regarding the incident.
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