In a freak mishap, a UKG student, Afsanaa (4), was crushed to death and 14 others were injured, two of them seriously, when the roof of their classroom at a private elementary school in Gurramkonda mandal headquarters collapsed on Wednesday afternoon.
According to District Educational Officer Mr. K. Samuel, the school (Indian Public School) management was conducting classes despite the bad condition of the building with wet walls and leaking roof. The building on Bazaar Street is said to be more than a century old.
Around 20 children were seated in a corner of the building after lunch when a part of the ceiling collapsed and fell on them. The school staff and neighbours rushed to the spot to rescue them even as one child was killed on the spot from head injuries. The injured children were admitted the Government Area Hospital at Madanapalle, 40 km from Gurramkonda.
District Collector Mr. Siddarth Jain ordered Madanapalle Sub-Collector A. Mallikarujuna to probe the incident. Mr. Mallikarjuna, who rushed to the Area Hospital, confirmed that 14 children were injured, and that all of them were out of danger. Two children - Usman and Usuf - were voluntarily taken to corporate hospitals in Bengaluru by their parents. The Sub-Collector said the government would bear the medical expenses of the injured students, and that the Collector would decide the ex gratia payment to Afsanaa’s kin. “The DEO has been ordered to submit a report on the school,” he added.
Afsanaa’s father Khayyum is a farmer.
The Gurramkonda police registered a case and took the correspondent of the school into custody for interrogation.