A woman has been crushed to death in a stampede for places at a South African university, a stark symptom of how the country is struggling to meet demand for education among the poor.
Thousands of young South Africans and their parents had camped out for 24 hours at the University of Johannesburg to seek its precious remaining slots.
Most were from poor families who learned they were eligible to apply only after receiving the results of their secondary school exams last week.
A melee broke out at about 7.30am. Ihron Rensburg, the university's vice-chancellor, said: "When we opened the gates this morning, we had this unfortunate, this very sad situation, where there was simply an unbearable crush on the front entrance, or front gate."
A mother who had accompanied her son to the campus was killed, he said. "The situation was particularly tragic as the young man was inside the registration tent and had no idea that this had happened."
Three other people were critically injured and nearly 20 others hurt.
Witnesses told how the gate broke and people tried to clamber over the fence. Desmond Mlangu, a prospective student, said he witnessed a "traumatising" scene, with women screaming and people continuing to push.
Thousands of young South Africans and their parents had camped out for 24 hours at the University of Johannesburg to seek its precious remaining slots.
Most were from poor families who learned they were eligible to apply only after receiving the results of their secondary school exams last week.
A melee broke out at about 7.30am. Ihron Rensburg, the university's vice-chancellor, said: "When we opened the gates this morning, we had this unfortunate, this very sad situation, where there was simply an unbearable crush on the front entrance, or front gate."
A mother who had accompanied her son to the campus was killed, he said. "The situation was particularly tragic as the young man was inside the registration tent and had no idea that this had happened."
Three other people were critically injured and nearly 20 others hurt.
Witnesses told how the gate broke and people tried to clamber over the fence. Desmond Mlangu, a prospective student, said he witnessed a "traumatising" scene, with women screaming and people continuing to push.
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