Nine children dead as wall collapses in MP

Bhopal/Sagar: Nine children were killed and four were injured on Sunday after a wall collapsed on a tent where they were attending a religious function in Shahpur village of Sagar district in Madhya Pradesh, police said.

The incident is the latest in a string of rain-related accidents and calamities that have claimed several lives across the country. It also came a day after four school students were killed in another wall collapse incident in Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh.

“The accident took place in Shahpur of Raheli assembly constituency at around 10am on Sunday. The rescue operation was started immediately to clear the debris. Nine children were found dead while four were rescued with injuries,” said additional superintendent of police Sanjeev Uike.

Police said the incident took place when the children were participating in a programme where they were making shivlings out of clay in a tent inside a temple. The wall of a dilapidated house located close to the temple collapsed on the tent. All the victims were aged between 10 and 14.

Expressing grief over the deaths of the children, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X, said, “The incident caused by the wall collapse in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh is heart-breaking. My condolences to the bereaved families of the children who lost their lives in this incident. May God give them strength to bear this pain. I wish speedy recovery of all the injured.”

Separately, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), in a message on X, said the PM had announced ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh from the PM National Relief Fund for the next of kin of each deceased, and ₹50,000 for each family of those injured.

“The house was about 40 years old. As soon as the information was received, municipal council employees, police, and locals reached the spot and started a rescue operation,” Uike said.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav has announced an additional assistance of ₹4 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased and ₹1 lakh to the families of each of those injured. The chief minister has also suspended the chief municipal officer (CMO) of Shahpur Nagar Panchayat and a sub-engineer for negligence.

Yadav has instructed all district collectors to identify dilapidated buildings in their areas and take action. “This will prevent recurrence of the incident. Negligence will not be tolerated,” the CM said.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday issued a ‘red’ alert for east Rajasthan, east Madhya Pradesh, west Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Konkan, Goa and central Maharashtra, predicting heavy rains in these regions.