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Venezuela: 17 killed in Caracas club stampede
[Al Jazeera] At least 17 people, including eight minors, have been killed after the detonation of a tear gas device inside a crowded club in Venezuela's capital, Caracas, according to officials.

The incident on Saturday morning occurred after a middle school graduation party degenerated into a brawl and someone detonated the tear gas, according to Interior and Justice Minister Nestor Reverol.

The detonation set off a stampede, with more than 500 people rushing for the exits of the Los Cotorros club in the middle-class neighbourhood of El Paraiso.

Official reports said the victims died of suffocation or multiple trauma.

Eight of those killed were younger than 18, said Reverol. Five people were maimed and taken to hospital for treatment.

Outside the club, several mismatched shoes lay on the sidewalk.

"All I know is my son is dead," Nilson Guerra, 43, told local journalists.

Reverol did not give any motive behind the brawl.

"The establishment has been ordered closed, and we are investigating in coordination with the public ministry, which is directing the criminal investigation," Reverol said.


Posted by: Fred 2018-06-17
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=516507