Five school children, including two girls, were killed and nine others injured, two of them critically, when the wall of an Anganwadi centre collapsed in Nayagarh district of Odisha on Monday prompting the government to suspend its headmistress.
The wall of a room of the Anganwadi centre operating in Nelia Upper Primary School campus at Suansia Sahi village caved in when 11 children were inside it along with three adults comprising a cook, one helper and the mother of a child, Nayagarh Superintendent of Police S.D. Mallick said.
While three children – Somnath Kotala, Chinku Kandi, Sachi Ray died on the spot, Pinki Sahu and Sonali Pradhan succumbed to their injuries at Capital Hospital and at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar respectively.
"All the children were in the age group of 3 to 5 years," the SP said adding the wall caved in following heavy rainfall here on Sunday night.
The three children had been rushed to the government hospital at Ranpur where doctors declared them brought dead, Chief District Medical Officer B. Das said.
"The headmistress of Nelia Upper Primary School was suspended as it was found that the class room allotted to the Anganwadi Centre was unsafe," Nayagarh district collector R.K. Choudhury said over phone. Besides, two Anganwadi workers had been served show cause notices, he added.
Angry locals surrounded nearby Ranpur police station and blocked the road demanding punishment to those responsible for the incident.