A survivor of the deadly nightclub tragedy in South Africa says she lost consciousness after she and other teenagers were overcome by a "strong smell" at the venue.
Sinovuyo Monyane, 19, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that she "passed out" early Sunday morning as a crowd of people desperately attempted to exit the Enyobeni Tavern at Scenery Park in East London, CBS News reported.
"I was running out of breath and there was a strong smell of some type of spray in the air," the woman told the news agency, per CBS News. "We thought it was pepper spray."
At least 21 teens — nine girls and 12 boys — died as a result of the tragedy, according to the South African Police Service (SAPS). An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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Unathi Binqose, a spokesperson for the Eastern Cape Department of Community Safety, previously told South Africa's Daily Maverick that forensic pathologists believe the teens consumed something that led to their deaths based on initial autopsy results.
"[They] said it was something they ingested, possibly from the beers they were consuming, or something they inhaled from those hubbly-bubblies [water pipes or hookahs] that they were smoking," Binqose told the outlet.
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Monyane told AFP that the scene became chaotic after people began smelling what was in the air. She and others in the crowd tried to leave while shouting "Please let us through!"; "We're dying guys"; "We are suffocating"; and "There are people who can't breathe."
Monyanen eventually passed out, but came to after she was sprayed with water, AFP reported, per CBS News. She thinks she "could have died."
"I got up and realized that there were bodies lying around," Monyane told AFP in a phone interview. "I saw people being poured water, but those people did not even move."