Hours after a school’s building collapsed in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district on Friday, two students said that they had noticed stones falling from the roof and informed their teacher about it. However, their complaints were ignored.
A portion of a government school in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district collapsed just as the students were assembling for morning prayers, killing seven children and leaving 28 injured, some of them critically.
“While we were sitting inside the classroom, stones started falling from the roof. Immediately, we informed our teacher, but what we said was ignored. Later, the roof collapsed,” two students told ANI.
The part of the Piplodi Government School building housing Classes 6 and 7 gave way, burying about 35 children, police said.
Rescue efforts underway
Scores of people, including frantic teachers and parents, helped in the rescue efforts, searching through slabs of concrete, bricks, and stones, to pull out the buried children.
Police officials said they were informed of the tragedy in Piplodi village around 7.45 am, news agency PTI reported.
“Seven children have died so far,” Nand Kishore Verma, SHO of the police station in Manoharthana, about 80 km from the Jhalawar district headquarters, told PTI.
(This is a developing story. Please check back for updates)