7 officials punished over Kunming school stampede that killed 6 children

Two officials were sacked and five more suspended for negligence after a stampede on that left six pupils dead and 26 injured at a Kunming primary school.

Five officials, including the deputy head of the city's education bureau, a vice governor of Panlong District and the head of Mingtong Primary School, have been suspended due to "serious dereliction of duty," while two others in charge of school safety were removed from their posts, according to the local government at a press conference on Saturday afternoon.

The stampede occurred when first and second grade students were walking downstairs in the dormitory building and a cotton cushions by the stairwell slipped to the ground, trapping some students and tripping others. A stampede ensued, according to the initial investigation led by the local government.

These two cushions are said to have been placed in the stairwell by a P.E. teacher at the school.

"The stairwell was already crowded," one seven-year-old girl present at the time told reporters, " suddenly the cushion slipped down and blocked the way. Then people started panicking.”