Stampede at Johannesburg university kills 1

One person has died after a stampede broke out among crowds of people trying to enrol at a university in the South African city of Johannesburg. "There was a person that was deceased," University of Johannesburg (UJ) spokesman Herman Esterhuizen said. The victim was said to be the mother of a prospective student. More than 180,000 high school graduates are expected to be turned away from South Africa's nine top universities this year, said the Times newspaper. It said about 74,000 students would fail to win a place at the University of Johannesburg alone. Tuesday's incident occurred as students queued for last-minute places at the university, registrar Marie Muller told eNews channel. It is one of few universities which accept last-minute applications in January, reports said. On Monday, the normally quiet streets around the university's Bunting Road campus entrance were packed with traffic and a kilometre-long line of applicants had formed at the main gate. Applicants waited through the night and the stampede apparently happened just after the main gate was opened at 07:30 local time (05:30 GMT), emergency services spokeswoman Nana Radebe was quoted as saying.