Student injured at school gala dies at hospital

A student of fifth grade who had suffered injuries during a fun gala at a private school breathed his last at the Trauma Centre of the Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi on Wednesday.

A day earlier, the Directorate of Inspection & Registration of Private Institutions Sindh (Dirpis) had imposed a fine of Rs75,000 on and suspended the registration certificate of the school, Jinnah Avenue Model Campus, Kazimabad.

The inquiry committee comprising Dirpis officers said in its report that a video clip that aired on TV channels showed that a student had been severely injured by a piece of glass of a bottle and was in the ICU of a hospital. A Dirpis committee visited the school to ascertain

the facts. During their visit, they found out that “a piece of a glass bottle (Limka Soda) hit the neck of Huzaifa Islam during the opening of the bottle by one of the students of the school”.

They said that the boy was severely injured and was completely on the ventilator at the Civil Hospital. They added that the incident occurred because of the grave negligence of the school administration.

They pointed out that the boy who was a grade five student had reached the stall that was arranged at a fun gala for students of classes six to 10. Besides, they also pointed out, Limka Soda was allowed at the gala by the school administration.

Therefore, Dirpis suspended the school’s registration and imposed a disciplinary fine amounting to Rs75,000 on the institute. The school had also been ordered to bear all the expenses to be incurred on the boy’s treatment as well as on his education up to grade 10.

The boy’s father said in his statement that he had lodged an FIR against the school and would also approach the court. He said that the child’s condition had worsened due to the delay in medical treatment. The school administration was very careless for putting his life in further danger, he added.

He said that the fun gala had been arranged for senior children, so how did a fifth grader reach there from the junior section. This was clear evidence of the negligence and irresponsibility of the school administration, and the culprits must be punished, he added.