In an unexpected incident, three school students sustained injuries after a balcony collapsed over them at decades-old government-aided higher secondary school in South Chitrai Street near Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai on Wednesday.
The injured students of Ayira Vaisyar Higher Secondary School were identified as V Veerakumar (17) from Silaiman, a Class XII student and two Class XI students — B Kumaravelpandiyan (16) from Nallur in Perungudi and S Sakthivel (16) from Samanatham. Police said the incident happened around 8.15 am when Sakthivel was allegedly in the balcony of the first floor of the school and two others stepped into the porch below it. The school administration although maintained that all three students were on the porch during the incident.
The police further added that the balcony collapsed because it was unstable and weak. Sakthivel fell down along with the balcony on the two students. Seeing the accident immediately the school students and teachers rushed the injured to the Rajaji Hospital on an ambulance from the Meenakshi Amman Temple and an auto-rickshaw.
Veerakumar sustained a severe head injury, Sakthivel's leg was injured and Kumaravelpandiyan got away with bruises. According to school authorities, Sakthivel will undergo a survey while the others were stable. After the incident, the school authorities declared a holiday for the rest of the students. The police said the parents, relatives and school students were rushed to the hospital for visiting the injured students in triage ward.
Deputy Director of Fire and Rescue Service Saravanakumar and District Fire Officer Kalyanakumar inspected the building. After checking CCTV footage, they said that the school has the stability certificate for the building. It was instructed to demolish the remaining portion of the balcony to avoid any further accident. Chief Educational Officer (CEO) R Swaminathan told Express that he has instructed the school to stop using the balcony immediately. "The decision of whether we have to demolish the balcony completely or reconstruct is yet to decided," he said. The Vilakkuthoon police are investigating.
