Fatal stampede as students enrol at University of Johannesburg

One person was killed and about 20 injured in a stampede by students trying to register at the University of Johannesburg yesterday, showing desperate demand for higher education among the poor in Africa's largest economy.

Thousands of applicants had spent days queuing for 800 slots at the university. Most of them were students from poor families who had scored high enough in national exams to be considered for higher education. It was a student's mother who died.