Two schoolgirls were killed and 13 others were injured in a stampede at a junior middle school on Thursday morning in Linyi County of north China's Shanxi Province, local officials said Friday.

The accident happened in a dormitory building for girls in Sunji Junior Middle School around 8 a.m. Thursday, when they rushed to classrooms because of a sudden change of examination place, said Li Shijun, a county official.

The examination was planned to be held at the school playground, but the windy weather made the school authority change the plan.

The students were told to take their books from classroom desks to the dormitory in a bid to prevent cheating in the examination, said Li.

Some girls stumbled at a turn of the stairs, causing others rushing with them to fall down. Two students died at the scene and 13 injured were out of danger now, said Li.

The victims, aged from 12 to 13, were all girls from local towns and villages, he said.

The schoolmaster was suspended from the post and further investigation is underway.

The local government has set up a work team to deal with the aftermath and all the schools were ordered to carry out a safety examination.
 
(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2004)