- Seven students died after they fell from a fourth floor balcony at the Public University of El Alto in El Alto, Bolivia, on Tuesday
- Authorities said four more students have been hospitalized with serious injuries
- The victims were among dozens of students who had gathered for an assembly and were seen fighting for space in a hallway
- The balcony railing then broke sending a group of students falling over the edgeÂ
- Several students sprung to action and saved others from falling off the balconyÂ
Seven college students have been confirmed dead and four others have been hospitalized with serious injuries after they fell from a fourth floor balcony when a railing broke at a university in Bolivia.
Video recorded by a bystander at the Public University of El Alto [UPEA] showed dozens of students jostling for position in a crowded hallway as they attempted to enter a lecture hall for an assembly Tuesday.
Students could be seen leaning against the railing when a section of it suddenly broke, sending them falling to the ground four floors below.
The school is located in El Alto, outside La Paz, Bolivia’s capital.
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The footage also showed the heroic actions of a group of students, who grabbed out at others to stop them falling over the edge.
A female student narrowly avoided falling from the balcony and then reached out to grab one of two other students who were dangling from the ledge.
Another student who was pulled to safety had her legs stuck between the railing bars.
The dead victims were identified as RaĂșl Cadena; Genio Mamani; SaĂșl Mamani; Daniel RodrĂguez; AnahĂ Chipana; Loida Sosa; and Tania Roque, according to Bolivia’s Special Force to Fight Crime.
The agency, which has been tasked with leading the investigation of the accident, identified the injured students as Limbert Lucana , 19; Lino Paredes, 20; Carla Quispe, 20 ; and Ascencia Veråstegui, 27.
Bolivian Police chief, Colonel Jhonny Aguilera, told reporters that the students’ cause of death was ‘multiple defenestration trauma.’
Aguilera said the students’ remains would be directly turned over to their family members in order to avoid any incidents that could delay their burials.
