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| The ADLS Sunshine building boasts guarded balconies, but an open elevator shaft left Class VI student Sadab Hussain (below) hospitalised on Monday. Pictures by Bhola Prasad |
A Class VI student of a Jamshedpur cradle broke four of his ribs and punctured a lung when he fell into a hollow elevator shaft from the second floor of the four-storey school building on Friday morning.
Twelve-year-old Sadab Hussain of Sakchi’s ADLS Sunshine School is battling for life in the critical care unit of Tata Main Hospital (TMH).
The incident took place around 11.20am, just after recess. According to school secretary Shankar Rao, the playful tweenager was attempting a precarious feat of clambering up the iron railing instead of using the staircase to reach his classroom on the third floor. “He lost balance and fell into the well from the second floor,” Rao told The Telegraph.
Principal Indrani Singh and other school officials rushed Sadab to hospital. Doctors on emergency duty shifted him to the critical care unit after a CT scan. The boy has sustained four broken ribs on the left. “One of the bones has pierced his left lung, resulting in massive bleeding. The boy has been senseless since his fall,” a doctor on duty said.
ADLS Sunshine is not largely indifferent towards student safety. Balconies on every floor of the school building are secured with grilles, while the cradle has a SAFE Club — comprising both students and teachers — in place to monitor campus activities.
So, where were these safety sentinels when Sadab fell off the railing?
“Members of the SAFE Club are posted on every floor and staircase to prevent any untoward incident during recess. They were on duty today as well. But the incident took place a few minutes after the interval and the members had already left their posts,” Rao claimed.
And why the lift shaft had not been plugged if not in use, he said: “It has been lying there like that for the past 11 years. There had never been any mishap. Besides, we were planning to install an elevator very soon.”
A worried parent, whose son studies in Class V of ADLS Sunshine, described the incident as scary and blamed the school management for not doing enough.
“The school should have taken extra precautions for safety on the campus. The management is to be blamed for the accident. The lift shaft should have been covered,” he said, requesting anonymity.
Sadab, who lost his father two years ago, is a resident of Gulabag in the Pardih area of Mango.
His grandfather Abdul Majid said they came to know of the accident around 12.30pm and reached TMH. “We are praying for his speedy recovery,” he added.
