At least four UKG students were injured after a wall of an under-construction building collapsed onto the terrace of a private school in Faridabad’s Bharat Colony, causing a portion of the roof to cave in on Saturday morning, police said. All four injured students were girls aged between five and six years.
The school, which runs classes till Class VIII, had around 150 students present when the incident took place between 9.15am and 9.20am during a storm. The girls sustained deep cut wounds on their heads after chunks of concrete from the collapsed ceiling fell on them, requiring multiple stitches. School authorities rushed them to Badshah Khan Civil Hospital, where they were discharged and handed over to their parents.
Inspector Devender Singh, station house officer of Kheri Pul police station, said three brothers jointly owned the house located behind the school. “They were getting construction work done and had got a several-feet-high wall erected on their third floor,” he said. Strong winds during the storm caused a large portion of the wall to collapse onto the terrace of the two-storey school building.
“The impact on the terrace caused its beam to break, and it caved in. The concrete debris along with part of the collapsed wall fell on the four students sitting right below it inside the classroom that time with at least 10 more students who survived with minor bruises,” Singh said. “It resulted in a panic, and the entire school premises were vacated immediately as a safety measure. The teachers and other employees of the school pulled out the injured girl students from the debris and rushed them to the civil hospital,” he added.
On a complaint by the school principal, an FIR was registered at Kheri Pul police station against the three brothers under sections 125(a) (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 290 (negligent conduct with respect to pulling down, repairing or constructing buildings) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The suspects fled after locking the under-construction house. “We have the details of the suspects, and they will be arrested soon,” Singh said.
