A four-year-old girl was crushed to death in her school’s elevator in front of her classmates in Dilsukhnagar on Tuesday morning.
A four-year-old girl was crushed to death in her school’s elevator in front of her classmates in Dilsukhnagar on Tuesday morning.
The victim, Syeda Xainab Fatima Jaffery, a Nursery student at Sri Chaitanya School, fell down as the doors of the lift opened while it was still in motion and got stuck between the lift and the floor. She died on the spot before getting any medical help, said police officials.
Fire officials pulled out her body with the help of lift technicians after 20 minutes of efforts. The lift’s grill doors were not functioning properly as the safety catches had been damaged months ago, said sources.
Since there is no CCTV footage available, the police is yet to get a clear picture of what happened. The police has gathered some information based on the statements of a woman staff, K. Saroja, who was taking the kids to higher floors.
Meanwhile, the other children who witnessed the horrific accident are too traumatised to explain anything.
The accident took place minutes before classes were about to start.
“A school staff was taking the victim and eight other kids from the ground floor to the first and second floors. Moments before the lift reached the top floor, the lift doors opened halfway while it was still moving, and the child fell down. Her head got stuck between the doors and the floor and got crushed,” said east zone DCP A. Ravinder.
The school staff also said that power had gone off for a few moments while the lift was moving from the ground to the first floor. “The inside door of the lift was not working properly. So the lift moves even if it is not closed properly. The school staff, who was in the lift, could not do anything at all,” said Malakpet ACP Ch. Sudhakar.
Tension mounted on the school premises as parents agitated against the management for their negligence. The police booked a case against the Sri Chaitanya school management for causing death due to negligence under IPC section 304A.
