At least eight students were killed and 27 injured in a stampede on a staircase at an elementary school in Sichuan province after a student screamed that a dead boy had returned as a ghost.
The Huaxi Metropolitan Daily reported the incident happened during a sudden power blackout.
Students were leaving their classroom at the Guangna Elementary School at 8pm on Tuesday when a student yelled that the ghost of a former classmate who recently killed himself had returned, according to Liu Xiao , a spokesman for the Tongjiang County government.
The school is in Tongjiang county, Bazhong City .
'The children got frightened and scrambled to make their way down the stairs. Children in rural villages firmly believe in ghosts,' Mr Liu said.
'I don't have the dead student's name. He committed suicide on his way home more than 10 days ago because his parents are getting divorced.'
He said one child fell and was crushed by others as the panicked children rushed to get away.