Tragic accident: At least 49 injured as school’s roof collapses

Doctors describe the condition of six children as critical. The chief minister has sought a report on the accident

MULTAN:

As many as 49 children and two teachers were injured in a roof collapse accident at a private school on Muzaffargarh Road.

Rescue 1122 officials said 30 children were discharged after first aid from Nishter (20) and Children’s Complex (10) Hospitals. The remaining 19 were under treatment at Nishtar Hospital till the filing of this report. They said most children affected in the accident at the Tameer-i-Millat Private School were between five- and 10 years of age.

Doctors overseeing their treatment described the condition of six children as critical. “They have suffered head injuries and have yet to regain consciousness,” they said.

Initial investigation by a joint district government and police team found that construction work at an adjacent plot could have caused the roof collapse. Multan District Coordination Officer Zahid Saleem Gondal said damage caused to a girder of the roof had led to the collapse. “Work was underway on the roof of the building under construction at the adjacent plot. It appears that pressure from a beam being installed there could have damaged the support structures of the school’s roof,” he said.

He said at least 100 students were present at the school at the time of the accident. He said 50 of the children were given first aid on the spot by Rescue 1122 teams and the remaining sent to hospitals in the city.

Meanwhile, a mob gathered at the site to prevent the school principal, Akbar Nazir, from leaving in a police van. They were demanding that he be handed over to them, said Multan SSP (Operations) Chaudhry Saleem. He said the principal was rescued from the scene and taken to the police station. “He was released after some questioning,” he said. The police have yet to register an FIR in the incident. They said a district government team was probing the incident and they would wait for its findings to initiate investigation in the incident.

Education EDO Ishfaq Ahmad Gujjar said strict action would be ensured against whoever in the school administration was found guilty.

Separately, Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has directed the schools education secretary to submit to him a report on the accident.

The school is registered with the Punjab Education Foundation as a partner institution. 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 24^th, 2015.