State mourning for killed school-kids in Uttarakhand

DEHRADUN - Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ Thursday declared three-day state mourning for the 19 school children who were buried alive following collapse of a classroom in the state’s Bageshwar district.

All government-run and aided schools in the entire state will remain closed Aug 19-21 as a mark of respect to the children killed in the tragedy Wednesday, following a cloudburst in Sumgarh village near Kapkot in the district.

Nishank flew down to the village where incessant rains had triggered landslides and caused extensive damage.

According to a local source, the victims were students of class I, II and III of the Saraswati Shishu Mandir school. “One family lost its three children,” the source said.

According to a Bageshwar police official, “Since the school was located on a mountain slope, continued rain on account of cloudburst brought with it a huge amount of rocky slush that hit and crashed the wall of one of the classrooms.”

“The classroom collapsed within a matter of seconds, burying all the 24 children present,” the official said.

While 18 of the children died on the spot, one succumbed to his injuries later in the local hospital. The other five children were saved.