At least 17 people were killed during the overnight hours in a stampede at an end-of-the-year high school graduation party in the El Paraiso neighbourhood of Caracas. The stampede occurred in a club called Los Cotorros.
According to media reports, the stampede occurred after a fight broke out at the party, which was being attended by approximately 500 people. During the fight, someone set off a tear gas grenade inside the club, which caused panicked party-goers to rush for the exits.
Minister of the Interior Nestor Reverol said that eight of the deceased were youths. According to Reverol:
A fight broke out in the overnight hours, and one of the people involved in the fight threw a tear gas grenade which caused a stampede of the more than 500 people that were at the club…
Reverol also said that seven people have been arrested so far in connection to the event. He said:
So far, we’ve got seven [people] detained, including two youths.
Reverol said that the person who organized the party was among those arrested, since he claims that the individual is liable for the presence of weapons in the party.
Public Transit Group: 26 Killed In “Dog Kennels”
Luis Salazar, the president of an organization called the Comite de Usuarios del Transporte Publico [Public Transit Users’ Committee] (CUTP), said today that at least 26 people have been killed over the last two months using an increasingly common mode of transportation in Venezuela: perreras. The term perreras means “dog kennels”, and refers to transport vehicles and that been re-purposed to carry human passengers.
The perreras are an answer to the chronic shortages that have paralyzed the country’s public transportation system, in particular in Zulia state. Because these vehicles were never intended to carry passengers, and because people tend to cram into them haphazardly, perreras are a dangerous method of transportation.
Below, some images of perreras:
Salazar said that while CUTP is aware of the 26 deaths, he added that there is an “incalculable number” of injured from using the perreras.
Salazar also denounced the fact that perreras are increasingly common on the streets of Caracas, and blamed the Maduro regime for being “disconnected from reality” by allowing the vehicles to operate. He said:
These people [the government] have been in power for 18 years, and they haven’t solved this issue, nor will they be able to.
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In Venezuela 
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