One girl and seven boys were trampled to death in a stampede at a middle school in south-central China, state media reported. Twenty-six were injured, suffering broken bones, concussions and punctured lungs. They were taken to hospitals in Xiangxiang City, Hunan Province.

Hundreds of students at the Yucai Middle School where leaving evening classes, heading to their dormitories at around ten past nine on Monday evening. As they rushed down a narrow staircase, apparently one girl tripped, causing many others to lose their balance and fall. State-run Xinhua News quoted a student as saying two boys had been blocking the staircase at the bottom, as if playing a prank.

Officials in Xiangxiang quickly launched an investigation and dismissed the head of the city education bureau. But the morning after the tragedy, classes continued as normal.

The deaths of these children could unleash volatile anger directed at officials—especially in a country where most families are allowed to have only one child.

According to the New York Times, stampede accidents are common in Chinese primary and middle schools. In the past seven years, more than 50 students have been killed at nine different schools in stampedes—usually down staircases.