SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — At least seven young people died and 10 were seriously injured Friday on an icy stairway as hundreds of teens rushed the entrance of a downtown disco, police said.
About 1,500 teenagers were trying to get into the Indigo disco, said Nikolai Madzharov, a security official at the dance hall.
Police spokeswoman Stefka Ivanopva said there was a melee as young people began slipping on the stairs.
She said earlier reports that the staircase had collapsed were false. -->
Some of the young people waiting in line to enter the club slipped and fell on the icy, winding stair. The crowd behind continued to surge forward, trampling those who had fallen. The dead and injured were between ages 12 and 18.
The club, a former ice rink, has a capacity of 4,000 and about 3,000 were inside when the stampede occurred.
"Everybody was screaming. There was blood all over the place," one girl told the news agency BTA.
One teen died at the scene and six others died at the hospital, Interior Minister Georgi Petkanov told state television. Officials were investigating the incident, but initial findings did not indicate that the club owners were responsible, he said.
Friday was the last day of the school term, and many teen-agers had planned to celebrate with a night of dancing.
Police ordered all discos in the capital closed.
"We wish that all kids go home and stay with their relatives right now," said Boiko Borisov, chief secretary in the Interior Ministry.
President Petar Stoyanov and Prime Minister Simeon Saxcoburggotski inspected the scene of the tragedy and later visited the hospital where the injured were taken.