17 people died during stampede after someone sprayed tear gas in club during fight at graduation party

Many families gathered outside a club in a middle-class neighborhood, where many underage teens were killed.

At least 17 people in Venezuela were trampled to death when a man fired a tear gas canister during a fight in a crowded nightclub, prompting a stampede.

Eight of the seventeen victims were under the age of 18. They were at the club celebrating their high school graduation at the private Social Club El Paraiso in Caracas.

Witnesses said that a fight broke out at the club where about
500 people were partying.

A man sprayed tear gas into the crowd, causing panic. Many people tried to get out of the front door but it was locked.

Some students suffocated to death from the gas while others were trampled to death as close 500 people rushed down a flight of stairs trying to escape from a second exit.

Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said that seven people were arrested including the owner of the club and the man who was accused of spraying the gas.