Tree collapse at Carmel Convent: Bus attendant still critical, student undergoes spine surgery
The bus attendant, Sheela, had suffered severe head injuries in the incident and slipped into a coma the day that the tree collapse at Carmel Convent
A bus attendant and two students, who were injured in the tree collapse accident at Carmel Convent School in Sector 9 on Friday, continue to be admitted at PGIMER.
The bus attendant, Sheela, 40, a resident of Kishangarh village, had suffered severe head injuries in the incident and slipped into a coma the same day.
“She remains critical. She was put on a ventilator due to multiple head injuries,” said Dr Vipin Kaushal, medical superintendent, PGIMER.
Along with Sheela, a total of three students were referred to the Advanced Trauma Centre at PGIMER following the incident. While Heerakshi, 16, a Class-10 student, was declared brought dead, 15-year-old Ishita’s arm had to be amputated.
“Ishita’s left arm above the elbow had to be amputated. Her vitals are stable and fever has subsided. She has been shifted to a private room and is scheduled to undergo another surgery for stump closure on Monday,” PGIMER officials said.
The third student, Sejal, 16, underwent surgery for a spine fracture on Sunday.
“A surgery was performed to stabilise the bone injuries. There are no neural problems and she is stable. She is conscious and needs bed rest,” Dr Kaushal added.
The 70-foot-tall peepal tree, said to be 250 years old, had come crashing down at the school around 11.30 am when only 10 minutes of the recess were remaining. At the time of the incident, some students were either having lunch or playing in the open around the tree near a school gate.
Meanwhile, police have still not started a probe into the criminal case registered in the matter. The administration has also ordered a magisterial probe, a report of which is to be submitted within a week.
CCPCR meeting on safety audit today
With the UT secretary for social welfare Nitika Pawar issuing directions to the Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CCPCR) chairperson to conduct a child safety audit of all the schools across the UT, the commission has called a meeting on Monday to finalise the format to conduct the audit.
Speaking about the same, chairperson CCPCR Harjinder Kaur said, “The issue is city wide and not just about one school. We will make efforts to identify all such trees and other factors which can put children at risk and we will help eradicate them.”
Notably, just a day after the incident in Carmel Convent School in Sector 9, another tree fell down at Government Model middle School Pocket 10, Manimajra, and damaged the boundary wall of the school.
A letter has been sent to various officials including municipal corporation (MC) commissioner, UT chief conservator of forests, UT senior superintendent of police, director health services, chief engineer, directors school education (DSE) and social welfare. A meeting will be held on Monday at the Snehalaya in Maloya.
DSE Harsuhinder Pal Singh Brar said he has started visiting government schools on his own to check for other such instances.
