At least five people have been injured in a stampede of a thousand people gathered in the football stadium of prestigious Tongji university in Shanghai (east of China), during a visit by ex-football player David Beckham.

According to reports by the city’s local newspapers, such as the evening daily ‘Xinmin Wanbao’ or the official newspaper ‘The Shanghai Daily’, the stampede happened at around 14:00 (6:00 GMT) as a result of David Beckham’s visit, who is on tour of China as an ambassador of the country’s football league.

The accident was triggered when the stadium doors were opened to allow for the entrance of the English superstar’s black car, driven by the man himself. Almost immediately, part of the crowd who were waiting outside seized their chance to run in behind the car, leaving trampled police officers and security guards in their wake.

According to the university, at least two policemen , two guards and a foreign student were injured, whose nationality was not revealed. All five were taken to a nearby hospital to be treated.

The accident caused the cancellation of the training session of the university football team to which Beckham was about to attend. The ex England team captain ended up being driven back out of the university campus.

 According to Marca