Tuesday, March 2, 2021, a metal railing collapsed at the Public University or El Alto. Police are still investigating the horrible accident that killed seven people. A video of the incident went viral on social media, one of the top platform being TikTok. It showed hundreds of students gathered into a narrow corridor to celebrate an assembly the school was having. Everything was fine until the railing collapsed.

Eleven students fell from the fourth floor, which is about a fifty five foot drop. Three out of seven students died at the scene. Three of the four injured are in intensive care. The deceased students are four men and three women all between the ages of 21 and 23. The university announced in a statement that an internal investigation will be started.

Parents of the students have denounced the UPEA, not for the accident itself, but for gathering the students together even with coronavirus restrictions. Why did the school host an assembly in the first place? They believed their children needed justice for a tragedy that could have been prevented. The Bolivian court thought the same. The court ordered the preventive detention, or imprisonment, of seven university leaders the death of the eleven students.

The detainees face culpable homicide and culpable injuries charges committed against the students. They were responsible for initiating the assembly, even though it went against COVID guidelines, and the school should have known the railing was fatal. The male detainees will remain in detention at San Pedro prison and the female at Obrajes for four months.

Hopefully this incident will make schools worldwide understand the importance of making sure all parts of their schools are safe. Rest in peace to the students who lost their lives in this accident and we wish for quick healing to those injured and all the families affected by this.