BERHAMPUR: Two girl students died after a gate attached to a dilapidated wall collapsed at a government school in Gajapati’s R Udayagiri block on Wednesday, prompting Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to order a probe into the incident.
The deceased were identified as Edanti Rait (9) and Bekleshan Rait (10) of Rubudisingh village under R Udayagiri police limits and students of class IV and class V respectively. The mishap occurred at Rubudisingh government primary school when the duo was playing on the campus. A weak and unsafe portion of the boundary wall near the main gate suddenly collapsed, crushing them underneath. The two minors died on the spot.
Following the incident, villagers and parents of the two girls rushed to the spot and informed the police. Police rescued the victims and rushed them to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared them dead.
R Udayagiri SPDO Rakesh Kumar Sahoo said a case has been registered and the bodies were sent to the district headquarters hospital (DHH) at Paralakhemundi for postmortem. He also confirmed that no other students were injured, as only the two victims were playing near the spot at the time.
Later in the day, the local tehsildar and block development officer visited school and provided immediate financial assistance of Rs 20,000 each to the families of the deceased from the Red Cross fund.
Meanwhile, locals alleged that the school premises was being used for storing construction materials by a contractor. Vehicles such as trucks and tractors frequently entered the campus. They claimed that these vehicles frequently brushed against the school boundary wall and gate, thereby weakening the structures.
Residents demanded accountability and immediate safety audit of all the school buildings in the region to prevent such tragedies in the future. School authorities were unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts.
On the day, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi expressed grief over the incident and termed it as ‘deeply unfortunate’. He announced a financial assistance of Rs 3 lakh each for the kin of the deceased from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Majhi also directed the revenue divisional commissioner (Southern division) to carry out a thorough investigation into the incident.