Nine kids faint in school after fire

Nine students and a teacher of a Municipal Corporation of Delhi-run (MCD) primary school in Baprola, near Najafgarh, fainted after they were trapped in smoke caused by a fire in the building’s electricity meter board on Monday.

Nine students and a teacher of a Municipal Corporation of Delhi-run (MCD) primary school in Baprola, near Najafgarh, fainted after they were trapped in smoke caused by a fire in the building’s electricity meter board on Monday.

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Baprola is an urban village in southwest Delhi.

The Baprola school narrowly escaped what another government-run school at Khajuri Khas in northeast Delhi witnessed last month — a stampede.

Five girls were killed in a stampede on the only staircase of the Khajuri Khas school after a last minute change in examination halls because of a flooded ground floor.

In the Baprola school, the meter board is located just below the only staircase.

Luckily, the fire broke out during lunch break when most of the children were in the playground. Around 2,000 students were present at the time.

“Were classes being held at the time of the incident, a stampede could have taken place as there is only one staircase in the building,” said principal Chandra Kailash. “Nothing was visible on the staircase when the fire broke out.”

Amit Kumar, a class IV student who fainted, said he was playing inside a classroom on the first floor. “I heard a noise and saw sparks below the staircase. I ran downstairs,” he said. “It was dark and there was a lot of smoke. I fainted.”

The nine students who fainted were from Classes III, IV and V.

Alert teacher

It was the computer teacher who saved the building from being engulfed in fire.

“Ajay Kumar doused the flames by using the fire extinguisher and sand buckets,” said Kailash.

Kumar, too, developed breathing problems and had to be admitted in hospital.

The students were taken to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, 12 kilometres away. They were discharged after getting medical attention.

A school teacher who did not wish to be quoted said the students panicked and rushed out. “They were sent home after the incident,” said the schoolteacher.

Harphool Verma, father of a Class V student who had fainted, said the school did not inform him.

“I came to know from a neighbour that a fire broke out in my child’s school,” he said.

Police said they were investigating the case. The MCD too ordered an inquiry.