A regular morning saw students assembling for prayers but quickly turned into tragedy on Friday when a portion of their government school building collapsed, killing seven children and injuring 27, some critically.The youngest of those who died was only six years old.Minutes into the morning at the Piplodi Government School in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district, a part of the middle school building housing Classes 6 and 7 gave way, burying several children.Reports suggest that the children had alerted their teachers about warning signs shortly before the collapse, but their concerns were not taken seriously.Several students noticed unusual signs in the structure and ran to inform the teachers, who were reportedly having breakfast at the time.Instead of investigating the issue, the teachers allegedly told the children to return to their classroom. Moments later, the building gave way.”Pebbles were falling. When the students told the teachers, they scolded them and kept having breakfast. If the children had been taken out, the accident would not have happened,” a student told India Today TV.“The children were made to sit inside the class for prayer. The teachers were having breakfast. When pebbles started falling inside, the children told the teachers. The teachers scolded the children and asked them to sit back in class. After that, the wall gave way and the roof fell on the children. Many children ran here and there to escape, with many getting buried under the rubble. After that the children were taken out with the help of the villagers,” an eighth-standard student said. Authorities have launched an investigation into the collapse.Education department officials and local administrators have promised strict action if lapses are confirmed.Meanwhile, the Congress has slammed the BJP over the death of seven children in a government school building collapse in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar, with Rahul Gandhi demanding a probe and strict punishment for the culprits.In a post in Hindi on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the death of many innocent children due to the collapse of the roof of a government school in Jhalawar, Rajasthan, is a very painful and shameful incident. “The government, which cannot repair the roofs of the schools of our children, despite complaints, for the future of the country, shows big dreams of ‘Viksit Bharat’,” he said.”The BJP, which boasts a lot about development, has ruined the country. Bridge collapses, train accidents, cracks in newly built roads, statues of great personalities getting damaged after inauguration – all these have become common,” he alleged.”The attention of the BJP is focused on only one thing – hunger for power!” Kharge said. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi also lashed out at the BJP over the incident. “It is extremely saddening and worrying that several innocent children died and many others were injured when the roof of a government school collapsed in Jhalawar, Rajasthan,” he said on X.”According to media reports, the government ignored the complaints about dilapidated schools, due to which these innocent children lost their lives. Most of these children belonged to the Bahujan Samaj – do their lives have no value for the BJP government?” Gandhi said.”There should be an impartial investigation of this incident, and the culprits should be given the strictest punishment,” he asserted. Slabs of concrete, bricks, and stones were piled up high, and scores of people, including frantic parents and teachers, helped in the rescue effort, searching through the mounds of debris to pull out the children.
‘Students alerted teachers before Rajasthan school roof collapsed, but were told to return to classes’
