Tragedy at the Bolivian university: three students who organized the assembly which ended in six dead have been arrested

Bolivian justice arrested three of the eight leaders who called the student assembly which ended in tragedy. Tuesday, six students died after falling from fourth floor after the rupture of a balustrade at the Public University of El Alto (UPEA).

Bolivian police confirmed on Wednesday that there were six victims and not seven as originally stated. According to The reason, confusion over the figure was generated from the list of seven presumed deaths that the police commander himself had made known.

Three people lost their lives immediately after falling from a height of 16.7 meters, and three more in medical centers, after being diagnosed with severe multiple trauma.

Marco Cossío, a departmental prosecutor in La Paz, said the prosecution had opened an investigation to try to clarify the fact. And he confirmed that “three people have already been apprehended. The crime we are investigating is for homicide and serious and very serious injuries. There are three people out of the eight who signed the convocation to this student assembly, ”said the official, according to what the newspaper collected. The duty.

As, Jhonny Aguilera, Commander of the Bolivian Police, said they were looking for Wilson Quispe Chura, one of the representatives who called the meeting. He is a graduate of this house of studies, was a leader of another career and is said to be the one who led one of the groups that faced each other on Tuesday.

“We assume that there were other students who did not correspond to the financial field, but to the sciences of education. We are still looking for the lady dressed in light blue or lead who is struggling with one of the ladies who lost her life, ”the authority added.

Finally, the police chief said that infrastructure conditions are also assessed. “We consider that the fixing elements of this guardrail are inadequate and insufficient. We found stains on arc welds, even placed with metal putty. A structural analysis must be done, ”he explained.

Facts

The young people attended a extraordinary student assembly, which was called by the Student Center, a meeting that led to protests and scuffles that caused the railing to give way.

Regarding the investigation of the accident, Commander Aguilera stressed “That first the causes which motivated this meeting must be established», Since this type of assembly they are not allowed for the pandemic.

Aguilera said that the videos provided by the university in which you can see how two women struggle and one of them falls and dies and indicated that in the hours that follow, the young woman who appears in the images who was rescued by other students will be cited “to listen and know what were the versions”From this event.

In a statement, the Public University of El Alto regretted the “fortuitous accident“And noted that the”is under investigation by the Bolivian police“. In addition, the authorities of the educational center also “they ordered an internal investigation“.

From different sectors wonders why more than 60 students were allowed to hurry onto a floor, without the distancing and biosecurity measures due to the pandemic, and under what conditions the holding of the said student assembly was authorized.

In building the career in business administration, a student assembly was held during which financial matters were discussed with which there were disagreements which led to complaints from students and clashes occurred.

In videos circulating on social networks, we see crowded students demonstrating in the hallways leading to a room, where the assembly was held, moments before one of the balustrades gave way and the young people fall from the fourth floor.

Speaking to a local radio station, the UPEA administration, Henry huanca, underlined that there was an “assembly despite the fact that there is a resolution which prohibits assemblies, but they allow this group of students to enter (…) there was an assembly with clashes and between two scrambles, like seven companions“.

The President of Bolivia, Luis Arce, deplored the tragedy that occurred at the Public University of El Alto and expressed its “sincere condolences to the people of El Alto and to the families who are suffering. We await the prompt clarification of the facts“.

During the day, former presidents, various political and social leaders also expressed their solidarity with the families of the students and demanded a rapid investigation into this matter.

Likewise, several candidates for next Sunday’s subnational elections suspended their campaign activities and closings out of “solidarity and respect” for the lives lost at the Public University of El Alto (UPEA).

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