Twelve students of the University of Ado Ekiti, including a pregnant lady, were on Wednesday injured during a stampede at a lecture room.

The pregnant student and 11 other victims were rushed to the University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti for treatment.

Apart from the pregnant student, the victims included 10 other females and one male students.

A student of UNAD told our correspondent that other victims, who suffered dislocation and other minor injuries had gone home for treatment.

The pregnant student, at the time of this report, was receiving treatment at the maternity unit of the hospital while the other students were being treated at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the hospital.

Hundreds of students of the university besieged the hospital to know the fate of their mates who were said to be on the danger list in the hospital.

Our correspondent gathered that the students, who were mainly in 300 level at the Faculty of Education, had just finished writing a test on Research Method at the ETL lecture theatre and were rushing to submit their scripts when the incident occured.

Some of the students told our correspondent that the lecturer handling the course, Dr. Michael Omirin, had given the class 10 minutes to write the test.

The students said that over 3,000 students were in the lecture theatre, adding that the rush by the students who sat at the gallery to submit their test worsened the situation.

The Chief Medical Director of UTH, Dr. Patrick Adegun, who confirmed to journalists that 12 students were brought to the hospital, said that the students were in stable condition.

He said, “Some of them are on oxygen because their lungs had been compromised. But we are hopeful that they will all be okay very soon.

“For the pregnant student, we may induce her or we may operate her just to ensure that the mother and child are safe.”

The Acting Vice Chancellor of UNAD, Prof. Dada Adelowo, who was seen making frantic effort to ensure that the students were given adequate medical attention, said that the university would pay the medical bills.

The VC said that the students could not be treated at the university clinic because of the large number of the victims. He added that the clinic would be upgraded and more workers would be employed.

The lecturer, who handled the test, told journalists that the lecture theatre was spacious enough for the number of students who registered for the course.

Omirin said he took some of the students in his car to the school’s health centre from where they were taken to the UTH.