School director held over child’s death in wall collapse in Thane district

THANE: Police on Saturday arrested the director of a school in Maharashtra’s Thane district, a day after an 11-year-old boy was killed in a wall collapse, an official said.

“The retaining wall of the school had become dangerous, and residents had repeatedly warned the school about it. Despite being made aware of the risks, the school director failed to take any preventive action,” said an official from Titwala police station.

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The incident had taken place in the Kalyan area on Friday. A group of children were playing on an adjacent lane when a portion of the school’s boundary wall came crashing down, burying three kids under the debris. Ansh Singh, a Class 5 student, died in the accident, while two others suffered injuries, said police.

“The wall was unauthorised and structurally unsound. It had visible cracks and lacked a proper cement plaster finish,” the official said, adding that the school was constructed 8 years ago. The school director has been booked for causing death by negligence and endangering human lives, the official said. Civic authorities subsequently demolished the remaining part of the damaged wall. “The wall had been constructed without permission,” said a civic official.