Five Killed, 27 Other Students Injured in Delhi School Stampede; Probe Ordered
In a stampede triggered following a rumour of a short circuit in a government school of New Delhi flooded with rain water, five girls were killed and 27 other students injured, five of them critically. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has ordered a high level inquiry into the incidence.
Following rumours, students rushed out of their classrooms in the Government Senior Secondary School in Khajuri Khas at around 9 am.
“Five girl students were killed in the incident while 27 others were injured,” Joint Commissioner (New Delhi) Dharmendra Kumar said. Out of the 27 injured, he said, 26 are girls
The injured students were soon taken to the nearby Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital. GTB Medical Superintendent OP Kalra said, “Out of the injured, five students are very critical. They are on life support system. Others are relatively stable and conscious.”
In the meanwhile, chief minister Sheila Diskhit ordered an enquiry into the incident.
Shortly after the tragedy took place the chief minister along with the state education minister visited the injured and families of bereaved in Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital.
She announced Rs 1 lakh as compensation for the bereaved families and Rs 50,000 for those injured, adding that the treatment costs would be borne by the state. She refused to comment on whether there was any negligence on part of the school authorities for the stampede, saying the incident was an unfortunate accident.
“We have decided that the Deputy Commissioner in the area will inquire into the incident. We will take every care of the children in hospital. I have 17-18 students who are in shock and trauma. The school seems to be alright, it was exam time and there were only 7,8,10 class students. There was a change announced in the exam classrooms and students were rushing to their respective classes. When one group was trying to climb up the stairs another was going down, and they clashed and fell over each other. We greatly regret what happened. This is an accident which can happen any time. If at all there has been any fault on part of school management, only the inquiry will find out,” said Dikshit.
