The uprooted gulmohar tree on the Akrurmoni Coronation Institution High School campus. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, Aug. 22: A gulmohar tree on a school campus under which boys chatted during recess everyday came crashing down and one of its branches pierced a student’s abdomen while another was knocked unconscious.

Six other boys of Akrurmoni Coronation Institution High School were also injured today.

At 1.40pm, the boys’ school on Binoy Sarkar Road in Malda town broke for recess.

Some of the students, of Classes IX and X, were gathered below the tree when it came crashing down around 2pm.

There was panic on the campus and some parents, too, rushed to the school when they came to know that several boys were injured.

Seven of the boys are from Class X and one from Class IX.

All were taken to Malda Medical College and Hospital in cycle rickshaws.

From Englishbazar police station, cops rushed to the spot and a fire tender was also called.

Subham Seth, one of the Class X boys admitted to the hospital, said: “I heard a cracking sound and saw the tree start leaning towards us. We tried to run but we couldn’t. A heavy branch fell on my legs.”

Doctors at the Malda Medical College and Hospital said one of the branches had pierced the abdomen of Rishabh Banerjee of Class X. He was operated upon. The doctors said his condition was stable.

The hospital said another Class X boy, Shib Shankar Guha, fell unconscious and had not regained his senses till 6pm.

The headmaster of the school, Chanchal Jha, said the tree that had fallen on the boys was an old one. “The tree was at the rear of the school building. It seems that yesterday’s incessant rain had weakened the soil at its base. Every day, students either sit or stand beneath the shade of the tree. We immediately rushed the injured boys to the hospital and informed their families,” he said.

Teacher Gautam Chowdhury said: “The tiffin break is from 1.40pm to 2.10pm and the incident took place just after 2. Had it happened 10 minutes later, the area would have been empty as the students would have returned to their classrooms. I have been teaching here for more than 25 years. It is an unforeseen accident,” he said.