Probe into girls’ death in Gajapati school

Berhampur: Gajapati district administration on Thursday conducted a preliminary inquiry into the death of two minor girls following the collapse of the entrance gate and the column holding it in the govt-run-primary school at Rubudisingh village under Gajapati district’s Nuagada block on Wednesday, while the school declared holiday to pay tribute to the deceased.District education officer (DEO) Mayadhar Sahu, sub-collector of Paralakhemundi Anup Panda and several officers reached in the morning to conduct an inquiry into the mishap. Besides discussing with school teachers and villagers, they also visited the deceased’s homes.They handed over Rs 20,000 to the family members of each deceased from the District Red Cross Fund and apprised them of the ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh to each of them announced by CM Mohan Charan Majhi.The preliminary inquiry was conducted ahead of the investigation conducted by the revenue divisional commissioner (southern range). Majhi ordered for an inquiry into the mishap by the RDC. “We will submit an inquiry report to the district collector soon,” said DEO.The deceased were identified as Beikylesh Raita (10), a student of Class V and Edannti Raita (9), Class IV student. DEO said the preliminary inquiry has revealed that the incident took place after the school closed at 10.30 am.

The deceased went home but returned to play.Seto Raika, in-charge headmaster of the 54-year-old primary school, said one of the columns of the gate was damaged as it was hit by the vehicle used by a contractor. The contractor is now building an additional classroom for the school. The school has 47 students from Class 1 to V and currently runs all classes in a single room he said.