Two children die as school wall collapses in Noida, UP CM orders probe

Two children were killed and three injured after a wall of a school building collapsed here Monday, prompting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to order a magisterial-level probe, even as the police booked six people in this connection, officials said.

The wall of the private primary school collapsed on the children at around 9.30 am allegedly due to the impact of some construction activity, involving use of a heavy machine (JCB), in the adjoining plot in Salarpur village, the police said.

"The children were rushed to a hospital for treatment where two were declared dead, while three others undergoing treatment," the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ajay Pal Sharma, said.

The deceased were identified as Bhupendra Singh, 10, and Vivek, 7, the police said.

Six people, including KM Public School's principal Sanjeev Jha, its manager Raghvendra Solanki, owner Amit Bhati, his relative Deshraj Bhati and Sumit Bhati (Deshraj's son) and an unidentified JCB operator have been booked in this connection, they said.

They have been charged under Indian Penal Code sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), among others, the police said.

The deceased's parents briefly disrupted the traffic on the Dadri-Noida road this evening near the village, demanding compensation.

"The crowd was pacified and normalcy restored soon," a police officer said.

Later, an official spokesperson of the state government in Lucknow said, "The chief minister has directed Noida District Magistrate Brajesh Narain Singh to probe causes of the collapse and submit a report".

The DM, who along with SSP Sharma, had visited the hospital and met with the victims and their families, said a magisterial-level probe has been ordered into the incident.

The chief minister has asked the DM to submit a report within a week.

"We will send a preliminary report also to the government and other details would also emerge soon," he told PTI.

Singh said the district administration was also looking into the demand of the families seeking compensation. "Their demands are under consideration," he said.

According to the FIR, the school building was "too old and deteriorated".

"The construction work in the plot adjoining the school was being done without any official approval from the authorities concerned," it stated.