Rajasthan school building collapse: Rahul demands probe, strict punishment for culprits

New Delhi: 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.

A regular morning that saw students assembling for prayers quickly turned into tragedy on Friday when a portion of their government school building collapsed, killing seven children and injuring 27, some of them 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.

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.

According to a news report from the previous day, water in a school run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was so much that the teachers themselves had to take the nursery children to a safe place, he said.

Today, the news has come that the building of a school in Jodhpur has become so dilapidated that the children are forced to study under a neem tree, 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.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the news of the death of several innocent children and injuries to many due to the collapse of the roof of a school in Jhalawar, Rajasthan, is extremely saddening.

"According to reports, serious negligence regarding the dilapidated building took the lives of the innocent children. The matter should be investigated immediately, and strict action should be taken against the culprits," she 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.