Three students died and four others were injured when a wall constructed near the toilets of a government-aided higher secondary school in Tirunelveli town collapsed on Friday morning.
K Anbazhagan, D Vishwa Ranjan, and R Sudhish, who were studying in ninth, eighth and sixth standards, respectively, were crushed to death.
Four of their schoolmates are receiving treatment at the Tirunelveli Government Medical College Hospital.
The wall collapsed at around 11 am when students came to the toilet during break, police said, adding that the wall was built by the school to prevent the view from outside.
After the incident, students of the Schaffter Higher Secondary School protested against the management and alleged that the walls were built using poor quality raw materials. They also staged a road roko and withdrew the protest after intervention from the police.
Tirunelveli district collector V Vishnu, Tirunelveli Police Commissioner N K Senthamaraikannan visited the school. The school’s correspondent, headmaster, and the contractor who constructed the wall have been arrested.
Chief Minister M K Stalin condoled the “unfortunate and tragic” death of the students and ordered a solatium of Rs 10 lakh each to the parents of the children who died in the wall collapse.
School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said a detailed inquiry into the incident will be conducted by the Tirunelveli District Chief Educational Officer. He also said the government will take steps to ensure such incidents do not recur by inspecting schools across the state.
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