Two students hospitalised during university parties in Louvain-la-Neuve

Two students were hospitalised following student parties in Louvain-la-Neuve, with one becoming seriously ill during a fundraising event on Monday and the other falling from the second floor of a university building on Tuesday night.

Both were hospitalised. A 21-year-old was taken ill with fluid in her lungs and was placed in an artificial coma by doctors. She has since left intensive care and is due to be discharged from hospital in the next two days.

A spokesperson for the Nivelles prosecutor's office released a statement regarding the 18-year-old student who fell from the second floor of the building housing the Chez Adèle law and criminology association but did not provide an update on her condition.

"The details surrounding the accident are confidential," the spokesperson said. "A judicial investigation has been opened but no investigating judge has been appointed. Interviews with all those present at the time of the events are underway to try to understand the exact circumstances of the accident. The young woman would have fallen from a height of six or seven metres.”

The UCLouvain law department was temporarily closed, and some activities have been suspended.

The 21-year-old student from the Louvain en Hainaut (HELHa) university who fell ill was participating in a fundraising competition as part of her initiation activities when she suddenly had trouble breathing. Security staff at the Cardijn Institute where the event was taken place immediately called for medical assistance.

"As stipulated in the regulations, the organisers of the event were sober at the time,” the director of the social department of the Cardijn Institute told reporters. “Before being in difficulty, the student showed no signs of illness. Nor did she express a wish to stop the initiation, otherwise everything would have been stopped as set out in the charter. However, initiation activities will remain suspended until the student's full recovery.”

The spokesperson for the Nivelles prosecutor's office added "that no investigation has been opened concerning this case because the police were simply not notified and did not have to intervene."

Psychological support was offered to students working on the Cardijn Institute site, in the form of individual interviews and a group session.