Roof plaster falls on students

Around 15 students and a teacher were injured when a large section of roof plaster fell during school hours at Government Primary School Shah Khalid Colony in Sukkur district on Thursday, with at least two children sustaining serious injuries and being shifted to a hospital in ambulances, teachers said.

According to the teachers, this was the second incident involving falling roof plaster at the school. The school was reconstructed in 2014, while its foundation was laid in the 1980s, followed by below-par construction. Its TR girder roof replaced the RCC roof in 2014. The teachers and parents alleged that poor-quality repair work had been completed at the school a month ago. They blamed the contractor for the incident.

Almost a 10-foot-long and four-foot-wide section of roof plaster fell onto the benches where students were sitting. Videos shared by parents showed large and small pieces of the fallen plaster scattered across the floor and benches of the classroom. DSP Naseer Bhutto told the media that 11 or 12 girls had been brought to the hospital with injuries.

Sindh Assembly Speaker Syed Owais Shah visited the Trauma and Emergency Response Center Sukkur, where the injured students were shifted for medical treatment. Four children were taken to the trauma centre with head, leg and arm injuries.