12-yr-old boy dies, 4 others hurt after school gate collapses on them in Navi Mumbai

A 12-year-old boy was killed and his 14-year-old friend injured when the gate of a newly constructed civic school in Kopar Khairane, Navi Mumbai, collapsed on them on Friday morning. Three other youngsters also suffered minor injuries and have been discharged from hospital after treatment.

Angry relatives are demanding action against the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), the civic contractor, and the private hospital, which they claim delayed admission of the deceased child.

The deceased boy, Saurabh Sunil Chaudhary, is a resident of Kopar Khairane. He had passed his Class 4 exam and was to go to Class 5 in the new academic year. Nilesh Rajendra Devre, a resident of Dhulia who was staying at a relative’s house for his vacations, is in hospital with a leg fracture.

The incident occurred around 8.45am at the NMMC school in sector 11, Bonkode, in Kopar Khairane. The school building, constructed at a cost of Rs 30 crore, has been ready for quite some time but has not been in use. The NMMC is planning to start a CBSE board school here from the coming academic year.

Santosh Patil, the deceased boy’s cousin, said: “Children regularly play in the school compound as the other ground nearby is always crowded. Saurabh was playing cricket here with four to five other children when an auto-rickshaw came. The driver opened the gate to enter the premises. The boys then decided to close the gate as the cricket ball kept going out of the premises. But as they were pushing the gate shut, it fell on them.”

Patil added: “It’s a very heavy gate, it would take three to four adults to pick it up. Somehow, with great difficulty, the other children managed to lift it and pull their two friends out.”

The two boys were rushed to a local hospital first, which directed them to the NMMC hospital in Vashi as the boys were severely injured. “At the NMMC hospital, we were told that Saurabh’s condition is very serious and that he should be shifted to the private hospital nearby, with which the civic hospital has a tie-up,” Patil said.

According to Patil, the hospital demanded Rs 85,000 to admit his cousin to the ICU. “We told them that we have been referred by the civic hospital. They then said they would have to check the documents. We insisted that they start treating the boy. All this took time, and Saurabh passed away around half an hour after being taken to the hospital,” he said.

Patil said Saurabh’s parents are in shock. “They have lost their child,” he said. His father, Sunil Chaudhary, 42, is a tailor by profession, while his mother Lalita, 38, is a homemaker. He also has an older brother Gaurav, 14.

“Both the contractor and the NMMC are responsible his death. Strict action should be taken against concerned officials,” he said.

Civic and hospital officials were not available for comment.

The Kopar Khairane police have registered a case of accidental death. “We are investigating the incident,” said a police offical, who did not wish to be named.