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Hans India
3 days ago
- General
- Hans India
My home is empty, no one left to play: Mother
Jhalawar: Justdays ago, the cheerful laughter of two siblings echoed through the courtyard of a modest house in Rajasthan's Jhalawar. Today, a deafening silence prevails as the children were among the seven who died in the school building collapse on Friday. Weeping inconsolably, the mother of the duo -- a boy and a girl -- wished God had taken her instead and spared her children. 'I've lost everything... I had only two children, a boy and a girl, and both are gone. My home is empty... There's no one left to play in the courtyard. I wish God had taken me instead and spared my children,' she said. Among the many stories of sorrow, perhaps hers stands out as especially heart-rending, even as the tragedy has plunged several families into mourning. On Saturday morning, wails of grieving mothers pierced the air outside the mortuary of the SRG Hospital here as the bodies of the seven children were handed over to their families. Some of them clung tightly to the wrapped bodies of their children, refusing to let go, while others sat in stunned silence, struggling to come to terms with the sudden and shattering loss. Shortly afterwards, five of the children were cremated together on the same funeral pyre while the other two were consigned to flames separately. Another woman, who lost her child in the incident, raised questions on the role of the teachers present in the school at the time of the incident. 'The teachers went outside, leaving the children behind. What were they doing outside?' she charged. The tragic collapse has raised serious questions about the condition of rural school infrastructure in Rajasthan and the systemic neglect that turned a place of learning into a site of mourning. The youngest of those who died was only six years old. Those killed were identified as Payal (12), Harish (8), Priyanka (12), Kundan (12), Kartik, as well as a brother and sister -- Meena (12) and her brother Kanha (6). Five of the school staffers were suspended, and a high-level inquiry into the matter was ordered. The School Education Minister has announced compensation of Rs 10 lakh to those families who lost their children. Jhalawar District Collector Ajay Singh met the grieving families on Saturday to console them. Later, talking to reporters, he said appropriate action will be taken against those guilty. 'Five school staffers have been suspended, and a probe committee has been constituted. If needed, an FIR will be registered. If suspension has to turn to expulsion, that will be done,' Singh told reporters. He said all possible help and support is being given to the aggrieved families, and the school education minister has announced that a new building will be constructed in the village. He said maximum financial assistance will be given to each family in the next 10 days. Reacting to a video of road patch work being done outside a hospital in Jhalawar ahead of the school education minister's visit to meet the injured, the district collector said, 'I am unaware of it... I will take an update'. On the repair work of the school building, Singh said, 'There are clear-cut directions for it. The district administration is making efforts to ensure that the incident does not occur again. District education officials have been directed to not let students enter schools if the condition of the building is not good.' He said it was unfortunate that no input was received from the school staff regarding the condition of the building. 'If we had received any complaint, we would have got the building repaired and the incident could have been averted,' he said. On Friday morning, the children, all students of Classes 6 and 7 at Piplod Government School, had barely assembled for the morning prayer when a portion of the building collapsed, burying over 35 children under debris. 28 were injured. 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. After the incident, anger and sorrow spilt onto the streets as locals blocked roads at Guradi Circle and outside SRG Hospital, demanding accountability. The protest, joined briefly by Congress leader Naresh Meena, led to his detention by police. Protesters at Guradi Circle turned aggressive when police reached the spot to clear the roadblock and started pelting stones at the police, injuring a policeman. The police used mild force to disperse the agitators
NDTV
4 days ago
- NDTV
Students Warned About Rajasthan School Roof, Teacher Was Busy Eating 'Poha'
Jhalawar: One of the students who witnessed the deadly school building collapse in Rajasthan's Jhalawar has said that she had flagged to her teacher that gravel was falling from the roof, but was "ignored". Seven children were killed and 27 others injured when a portion of their government school building collapsed on Friday, minutes before the morning assembly. The victims were identified as Payal (12), Priyanka (12), Kundan (12), Harish (8), Kartik and a brother and sister -- Meena (12) and Kanha (6). "When we reached school, the teacher asked us to wait in the classroom for morning prayers. Then some pieces of gravel started falling from the roof. A student immediately informed the teacher, who said, 'Nothing was falling.' The roof later collapsed. I was able to escape, but others were trapped," a student told reporters while recounting the horrifying incident. Another student said the teacher was having 'poha', a staple breakfast snack, when the roof collapsed. They also said they had repeatedly flagged the issue, but no action was taken. #WATCH | Rajasthan | On the Jhalawar school roof collapse, two students of the school say, "While we were sitting inside the classroom, stones started falling from the roof. Immediately, we informed our teacher, but what we said was ignored. Later, the roof collapsed." — ANI (@ANI) July 25, 2025 Jhalawar collector Ajay Singh, however, said the district administration had recently instructed the education department to give information about any dilapidated school building and said that this one did not figure in the list. Five staffers of school have been suspended. Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma held a high-level meeting after the incident and said he has told officers to ensure that no school building should be in a dilapidated condition. झालावाड़ जिले के पीपलोदी गांव में विद्यालय भवन की छत गिरने से हुए हृदयविदारक हादसे में दिवंगत मासूम बच्चों को मुख्यमंत्री निवास पर आयोजित उच्च स्तरीय बैठक में मौन धारण कर, श्रद्धांजलि अर्पित की। बैठक में विभागीय अधिकारियों एवं वीसी से जुड़े समस्त जिला कलक्टर्स को सरकारी भवनों… — Bhajanlal Sharma (@BhajanlalBjp) July 25, 2025 President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the deaths. "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," President Murmu said in a post on X in Hindi. PM Modi called the incident "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.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
School collapse in India leaves four children dead
Several children have been killed or injured and more are feared to be trapped after a public school building collapsed in India. The roof of the school caved in suddenly while about 40 students were praying in classrooms, burying many of the children and a teacher under the rubble, police said. At least four students between the ages of eight and 14 were killed and 17 were injured. The disaster occurred around 7.30am local time (3am BST) in the village of Piplodi in the Jhalawar district of the northern Indian state of Rajasthan. Hundreds of villagers rushed toward the school to rescue those trapped under the rubble. 'Four children have died and 17 others are injured, among them three to four are critical,' said police superintendent Amit Kumar. The injured have been taken to a community hospital in Manoharthana while the critically injured students have been referred to a tertiary care hospital, police said. The deceased include Payal and Priyanka, both 14-year-old girls, and Karthik and Harish, both eight-year-old boys, police said. Videos surfaced on social media showing parents and relatives desperately removing bricks and debris as they searched for the trapped students. Opposition politicians were quick to express their anger over the collapse. 'This is not just an accident, it is murder! This is the result of criminal negligence of the collapsed system of the BJP government,' said Govind Singh Dotasra, India's opposition congress chief. 'Despite repeated warnings, why do dilapidated school buildings continue to be ignored? Why has the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] government not released the budget for school infrastructure?' Madan Dilawar, Rajasthan's education minister, said: 'These are the sins of Congress, for which we are suffering. The building collapsed due to their negligence.' Mr Dilawar said an inquiry would be undertaken to investigate the causes of the incident. Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, the opposition congress leader, called the BJP's attempt to shift the blame 'shameful' and 'irresponsible'. 'Your government has been in power for two years. The Education Department submits school safety reports every three months. Why did the education minister ignore them,' Mr Khachariyawas said. Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, said the incident was 'tragic and deeply saddening'. On July 9, at least 10 people were killed after a partial bridge collapse in India sent lorries, vans and a rickshaw plunging into the river below in western state of Gujarat.
Hans India
5 days ago
- Hans India
Rajasthan school building collapse: Death toll reaches six, over 30 injured
Jaipur: Six students died while over 30 were injured in a devastating incident which was reported on Friday in Peeplodi Government School, located in Manoharthana block of Jhalawar district in Rajasthan, where a portion of the school building collapsed. The collapse occurred during the study hours when 35 students of Class 7 were seated in a classroom that suddenly caved in. All the children were trapped under the debris. Local villagers and teachers rushed to the scene and pulled out the injured, who were immediately taken to Manoharthana Hospital. Dr Kaushal Lodha of the hospital confirmed that 11 critically injured children have been referred to the district hospital in Jhalawar for advanced treatment. Villagers reported that the school has seven classrooms, and at the time of the incident, 71 children were present in two of them. The accident occurred in one of the classrooms where Class 7 students were studying. Two teachers were present on campus but were outside the building when the structure collapsed. The identified victims include Payal (14), Priyanka (14), Kartik (8), Harish (8), and Meena Redas. One child is yet to be identified. The injured were students referred to Jhalawar. Rajasthan Education Minister Madan Dilawar expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy and assured that repair works of dilapidated buildings are underway, and approximately Rs 200 crore is being allocated for the purpose. 'Right now, our top priority is to ensure the injured children receive the best possible treatment and recover soon,' said Dilawar. Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma expressed grief over the loss of young lives and has ordered a high-level investigation into the incident. All medical expenses of the injured students will be borne by the government, and senior officials have been dispatched to the site. There is widespread resentment among villagers, who claim the school building has been deteriorating for a long time due to continuous rainfall. Despite repeated warnings, no action was taken by the authorities. Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has expressed deep sorrow over the tragic loss of lives. He described the incident as extremely distressing and heartbreaking. The Union Minister said, 'I have sought detailed information from the local administration regarding the relief and rescue operations and have urged them to ensure swift and effective action.' Extending his condolences, Shekhawat added, 'I pray for the speedy and complete recovery of the injured children. May the departed souls rest in peace, and may God grant strength and courage to the bereaved families during this difficult time.'
South Wales Guardian
5 days ago
- South Wales Guardian
EE, Vodafone and Three down as customers report issues
There are thousands of reports of issues with mobile services on Downdetector, while customers across the UK have also taken to social media to alert other users. One person, posting on X (formerly Twitter), said: "Vodafone down, Three down, EE down - whats happening?" Vodafone down, Three down, EE down - whats happening? Another added: "@EE your network is down, our WiFi hasn't worked for the best part of 5 days now and now I can't use my phone either? "Do you plan on compensating your users for the distribution considering we are paying for services that aren't even working?" Hi Dean, we've shared this with the team to investigate. Thanks for letting us know. EE and Vodafone, both via posts on X, said they were currently investigating the issues. Hi there, hope you're well. Please send us a private DM with a few more details of your query as we'd love to help with anything you need. Payal A BT spokesperson, commenting on the EE issues, added: 'We're currently addressing an issue impacting our services. "We apologise for any inconvenience caused; we're working urgently to fix this issue and will provide a further update as soon as possible." Vodafone and Three have also been contacted for comment. There has also been a small spike in reports of issues with O2 this afternoon on Downdetector. O2 clarified that its network was operating "entirely as normal", and any spike in reports on Downdetector was due to issues customers had contacting friends and family with other operators. There have also been thousands of reports of issues with BT. Most of the issues seem to be with landlines, while some have also reported problems with their BT broadband. One person, posting on Downdetector, said: "Landline down, our number 'not recognised' when dialled from mobile and also when put into BT status check page i get 'We ran into trouble with your search. Please try our help information.' Downdetector is an online website that allows users of popular services including X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, Virgin Media and more to report if they are having trouble with the services. The site only reports an incident when the number of problem reports is significantly higher than the typical volume for that time of day. Describing itself on its website, Downdetector is 'where people go when services don't work.' The website monitors disruptions to various key services including the internet, web hosting platforms, banks, social media and more. You can see the full methodology and learn more about how Downdetector collects status information and detects problems via its website. In short, users can get involved by submitting any issue reports on the platform. Recommended reading: How to save on mobile roaming charges abroad with Vodafone, eSIMania, EE and more The phones without internet from tomorrow as Virgin Media O2 expands switch off Virgin Media gives customers access to 14 free channels - see what's available Problem indicators are also collected from social media and other factors on the web, Downdetector explained. These reports are then validated and analysed in real-time. An incident is then detected if the number of reports is significantly higher than the typical average for that particular service. When a user goes to investigate the issue, they can see what the most reported problems are currently and check if their areas are in one of the outage hotspots.
