Twelve students injured in Kanpur school roof collapse

KANPUR: Twelve children, including two girls, were injured when the roof of their classroom at SSD Vidyalaya Junior High School, situated in the congested Kahukothi area, collapsed on Thursday morning. An inquiry has been ordered into the incident.
Reports said the mishap took place at 11.30 am while classes were underway at the government recognised school, situated close to the busy Birhana Road under the limits of Collectorganj police station.
A district official told TOI that nearly 35 primary and junior section students, in the age group of 10-14 years, were appearing for their first terminal exam when a major portion of the roof of their classroom situated on the second storey of the age-old building, collapsed leaving 12 of them injured.
While nine of the injured, identified as Ankit Singh, Rajan, Ankit Yadav, Saurabh, Rajendra Dwivedi, Dhruv Kumar, Deepak, Shubham Gupta and Shivam, were taken to the Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital for treatment, three others, Goldy, Radha and Komal, were discharged after primary treatment at the KPM Hospital. The condition of Ankit Singh was stated to be critical as he had suffered serious head injuries.
This is the fourth such incident reported in the state in the past few days.
Senior district and police officials, including ADM (City) Anup Srivastava, who visited the spot, said that “necessary action would be taken against those found to have neglected the safety of the students”.
“The roof of the SSD Vidyalaya Junior High School, which was in a dilapidated state, collapsed this morning when the children were attending classes, burying them under the debris,” said the ADM (City) while talking to TOI. “I have instructed my subordinates to lodge a case in this regard and conduct a probe,” the ADM added. The school owner will also be questioned, he added.
The children were immediately pulled out of the debris by the school staff, locals and the police, he added.
Eyewitnesses said that “the children were taking their exam at around 11.30 am when suddenly the roof of the classroom came down with a loud thud, giving almost no chance to the children to escape”.
According to a senior Collectorganj police officer, condition of Ankit Singh was stated to be critical.
“On hearing a loud thud followed by cries for help, local residents and shopkeepers were the first to rush to rescue the children. While most of the children who were buried under the rubble were bleeding profusely and crying in pain, a few others had fainted,” said Venkat, a local, who rescued several children in the melee. Till the time of arrival of police and firemen, all the injured students with minor injuries were admitted to nearby hospitals while those with serious wounds were taken to the Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital by the locals of the area, he added.
“My child was rushed to the hospital by the locals soon after the incident. He is still unconscious and undergoing treatment,” said kin of Ankit Singh at LLR Hospital.
The school, established in 1972, comprised of nearly 102 students and 10 teachers both in primary and junior level. A district official said that “the building was too old and the ceiling was made of ‘khaprail’. It presumably gave way after the recent heavy rain.”
The police are also looking for school manager Krishna Gopal Srivastava and headmistress Manju Lata Sharma, who are reportedly absconding.
Amod, father of a seriously injured student, said, “According to the teachers, the management had not paid any heed to the request of renovating the building despite charging huge amount in the name of tuition fees.”
Interestingly, Basic Education and Child Development Minister Ram Govind Chaudhary had ordered a state-wide inspection of all school buildings soon after the collapse of a ceiling in a private school that killed six students in Bijnore district on July 28.
The minister had asked basic education department officers across the state to inspect the buildings of all the aided and recognised schools as well as government junior high schools and submit a report within two months. Chaudhary had also instructed the officials to take immediate steps to repair any dilapidated building. The minister had also ordered for an FIR to be registered against the school authorities in such incidents.
Meanwhile, irked over the incident, locals staged a protest and raised slogans against the school authorities. They demanded serious action against the guilty and adequate medical assistance and necessary compensation to the injured children.