Fire Drill Turns Fatal: TN Student Falls From Second Floor, Dies

In a video, a trainer can be seen pushing the student off a ledge as she resists.

Logeswari was made to sit on the ledge of the second floor, while other students from the college waited below with a safety net.

(Photo Courtesy: The News Minute)

Video Editor : Vishal Kumar

A 19-year-old college student died in Coimbatore district on Thursday, 12 July after she was forced to jump off the second floor of her private educational institute during a disaster preparedness drill.

Logeswari, a second year BBA student at the Kalaimagal College of Arts and Science, was made to sit on the ledge of the second floor, while other students from the college waited below with a safety net.

Video Shows Girl Not Ready to Jump

In a shocking video of the incident, an unidentified person can be seen pushing the student off a ledge even as she resists. The girl is clearly not ready to jump but is still given a push from the back. Her head then hits the sun shade on the first floor before falling on to safety net that her college mates were holding for her.

Terrified classmates who caught her, realised that she had become motionless and rushed her to a government hospital where she was pronounced dead. She suffered severe injuries to her head and neck. The Kalaimagal College of Arts and Science, according to the police, was preparing students for the steps they must take in case there was a fire.

Trainer Taken Into Remand

The police have filed a case under section 304(a) for causing death by negligence. The trainer Tr Arumugam has been remanded in for the death of the student, the investigating officer said. When asked if action will be taken against the college, the police claim that further investigation is required in the matter.

20 Students Part of Training Drill

Several students had already jumped successfully on to the safety net when the drill started at 3 pm. The college block where the training was being conducted had three floors and students were jumping off the second floor. A total of 20 students were part of the training drill which was announced 45 days back.

A group from Chennai was conducting the training. They have done the same drill in several other colleges for the past five years. Several of them did it before her and nothing happened to them. This was an accident.

Investigating official to <i>The News Minute </i>

Logeswari is originally from Alandurai and her parents rushed to the hospital after being informed about the incident.

Were the Correct Guidelines Followed?

Speaking to TNM, the Regional Director had sought a report from the program coordinators, he concedes that the NSS manual does not deal specifically with safety procedures during disaster management as this was a “new topic.”

“We have given small pamphlets from different agencies and we will circulate to the different volunteers,” he says.

When asked what handbook was used for the training, he said, “Normally we have the disaster management guidelines. Whenever disaster preparedness or disaster management trainings are undertaken, before the commencement of the program, the students will be given orientation- whether it is a fire disaster or a natural disaster, whatever it may be. Normally it is done by the Fire and Rescue Department personnel only. Here we don’t know who has done it. We don’t know what guidelines these people followed."

(Published in an arrangement with The News Minute)