Mária Del Rosario Lamshing from Mexico When I was in junior high school and 13 years old, in my school we celebrated a very special event. A famous TV program was going to be recorded on the playground. So for this purpose, all the members of the school were invited. I am talking about one thousand people, including staff and students. It is important to mention that the capacity of the school was designed for 500 students in the morning classes and the same number in the evening. At that time, the school had two buildings with three floors each. That meant there were several stair wells. A terrible accident occurred when almost all the students had arrived at school. It was really crowded and noisy. TV cameras, technicians from the broadcast company, teachers, and safety guards were at each entry to the classrooms and at each exit. In addition, all the teachers were trying to calm down the excited youngsters. When the crucial moment came, suddenly I saw the stairwell of the first floor of the building in front of me collapse due to the excessive weight caused by all the students that were trying to watch the event. It was a terrible nightmare. The stairwell, which was made of concrete, and all of the students standing on it came down on the students who were seated on the floor just under the stairwell. The
teachers quickly organized the rapid exit of the
students in order to make more room for the injured
people and the paramedics. Fortunately for the
principal of the school, there was nothing to
regret, but for all of us, it was a nightmarish
experience. More stories:
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