Boy, 12, crushed to death as slab falls in Balrampur school

Raipur: A 12-year-old class 6 student was killed on Thursday when the slab of an under-construction anganwadi building collapsed on him inside a school campus in Chhattisgarh's Balrampur-Ramanujganj district, triggering grief and anger in the area and raising serious questions over construction safety.The Surguja education department suspended the school headmaster Mamta Gupta for negligence towards children's safety at school. The incident took place in Shardapur village in Wadrafnagar block, on the premises of Middle School Khuthanpara. The deceased was identified as Alok Kumar Dewangan (12), son of daily-wage labourer Ramesh Dewangan.According to initial information, the accident occurred during the mid-day meal break. After lunch, students were playing in the school premises when some of them wandered near the under-construction anganwadi centre building inside the campus.Alok followed his classmates towards the site. The boy stepped under the protruding slab (chhajja) of the unfinished structure to urinate when the slab suddenly came crashing down.The heavy concrete and debris buried the child, leaving him critically injured. Hearing his cries and the sound of the collapse, teachers and students rushed to the spot. Teacher Pooja Gupta said students ran to inform staff after the slab fell. "All teachers rushed to the spot. With villagers' help, the debris was removed and the child was taken to hospital, but by then it was too late," she said.With the help of villagers, they removed the debris to rescue Alok, who was then rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead.News of the tragedy plunged the village into mourning; Alok's parents were inconsolable as relatives and neighbours gathered at the hospital.Officials said the gram panchayat is the construction agency for the anganwadi building. Locals pointed out that there was no barricading, warning signage or restriction on children's movement around the construction zone despite it being inside a functioning school campus. Wadrafnagar police reached the hospital soon after being informed. Balrampur SP Vaibhav Banker said the case is being probed and If any negligence is found at any level during the investigation, legal action will be taken against those responsible.