School collapse in India leaves four children dead
The roof of the school caved in suddenly while about 40 students were praying in classrooms, burying many of the children and a teacher under the rubble, police said.
At least four students between the ages of eight and 14 were killed and 17 were injured.
The disaster occurred around 7.30am local time (3am BST) in the village of Piplodi in the Jhalawar district of the northern Indian state of Rajasthan.
Hundreds of villagers rushed toward the school to rescue those trapped under the rubble.
'Four children have died and 17 others are injured, among them three to four are critical,' said police superintendent Amit Kumar.
The injured have been taken to a community hospital in Manoharthana while the critically injured students have been referred to a tertiary care hospital, police said.
The deceased include Payal and Priyanka, both 14-year-old girls, and Karthik and Harish, both eight-year-old boys, police said.
Videos surfaced on social media showing parents and relatives desperately removing bricks and debris as they searched for the trapped students.
Opposition politicians were quick to express their anger over the collapse.
'This is not just an accident, it is murder! This is the result of criminal negligence of the collapsed system of the BJP government,' said Govind Singh Dotasra, India's opposition congress chief.
'Despite repeated warnings, why do dilapidated school buildings continue to be ignored? Why has the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] government not released the budget for school infrastructure?'
Madan Dilawar, Rajasthan's education minister, said: 'These are the sins of Congress, for which we are suffering. The building collapsed due to their negligence.'
Mr Dilawar said an inquiry would be undertaken to investigate the causes of the incident.
Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, the opposition congress leader, called the BJP's attempt to shift the blame 'shameful' and 'irresponsible'.
'Your government has been in power for two years. The Education Department submits school safety reports every three months. Why did the education minister ignore them,' Mr Khachariyawas said.
Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, said the incident was 'tragic and deeply saddening'.
On July 9, at least 10 people were killed after a partial bridge collapse in India sent lorries, vans and a rickshaw plunging into the river below in western state of Gujarat.
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