Jhalawar, 25 July

A portion of a government school in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district collapsed on Friday just as the students were assembling for morning prayers, killing seven children and leaving 28 injured, some of them critically.

The part of the Piplodi Government School building housing Classes 6 and 7 gave way, burying about 35 children, police said.

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.

Police officials said they were informed of the tragedy in Piplodi village around 7.45 am.

"Seven children have died so far," Nand Kishore Verma, SHO of the police station in Manoharthana, about 80 km from the Jhalawar district headquarters, told PTI.

Five of the children studying in the school in Jhalawar's Manoharthana block, about 340 km from Jaipur, have been identified.

They are Kundar, Kanha, Raidas, Anuradha and Badal Bhil, the SHO.

The injured were taken to the Jhalawar hospital and the Manoharthana health centre.

A doctor at the district hospital said nine of the injured were in the Intensive Care Unit.

President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were among those who condoled the loss of lives.

"The news of the collapse of a school roof in Jhalawar, Rajasthan, resulting in the death and injury of several students, is extremely tragic. I pray that God grants strength to the grieving families to bear this pain.

"I wish for the speedy recovery of the students injured in this accident," Murmu said in a post on X in Hindi.

The prime minister described the incident as tragic and deeply saddening.

"My thoughts are with the affected students and their families in this difficult hour. Praying for the speedy recovery of the injured. Authorities are providing all possible assistance to those affected," he said.

Angry locals said they had informed the tehsildar and sub-divisional magistrate about the condition of the school building but no action was taken.

"This happened due to negligence of the administration," Balkishan, a local resident, told reporters.

He was sitting on the roadside close to the school when he heard a loud noise, turned around to see that a portion of the building had collapsed in a cloud of dust and debris. The sounds of children screaming broke through the noise.

"I, along with others present there, immediately rushed to building and started removing slabs and stones in order to rescue children. There was chaos. Children were crying and everyone was making efforts to pull them out. Many of us rushed the injured students to the health centre," Balkishan said.

According to Jhalawar collector Ajay Singh, however, the district administration had recently instructed the education department to give information about any dilapidated school building but this one did not figure in the list.

"I will get it investigated and action will be taken against whoever is found guilty," Singh told PTI.

Another local claimed they had rescued the children and rushed them to the health centre in private vehicles before help from the administration arrived.

The condolences poured in.

Lok Sabha Speaker and Kota MP Om Birla said the incident was painful, and prayed for the peace of the departed souls.

Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also expressed his condolences and asked Congress workers to provide all possible assistance in relief and rescue operations.

Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma said in his condolence message that concerned officials had been directed to ensure proper treatment of the injured children.

"May God grant a place to the departed divine souls in his lotus feet and give strength to the bereaved family to bear this immense sorrow," he said.

Education Minister Madan Dilawar promised a high-level inquiry will be conducted into the incident.