Nine students were injured, two seriously, during a stampede on a slippery staircase at a primary school in Yingshan County, Sichuan Province.

Two of the victims were still in serious condition as of Saturday, said the Chengdu Evening Newspaper.

The students were leaving a building for home when the mishap occurred near noon on Friday, the report said.

The stampede involved about 100 students of Yunfeng Experimental School, according to the newspaper.

Huang Jia, 9, and Deng Yangyang, 8, suffered the most serious injuries, the report said.

Deng said she was going downstairs and was holding hands with Huang when she felt a push from behind.

The stairway was slippery and the two fell.

It was raining at the time.

Huang was buried in the stampede and Deng was on top of her. Deng said when she recovered consciousness, she was already in a police car.

Huang's mother said her daughter seemed dead when she was taken to hospital.

Huang didn't regain consciousness until hours later.

Parents waiting to pick up their children for home were the first at the scene.

Some parents were waiting near the building but found no one came out several minutes after classes ended. Then they heard cries for help.

Lai Yuhua said she found about 20 students crammed in a pile and more were falling. Lai said after she pulled out a boy, another parent rescued her son, 7, who had lost consciousness. A third parent performed artificial respiration. The boy regained consciousness.

A school official said the school was partly responsible.

(China Daily October 18, 2005)