Student dies after being pushed off roof during safety drill

A 19 year-old woman has died during a mock disaster drill at an Indian college in which students were made to jump from a building.

A video of the incident shows the girl, identified as N. Logeshwari, appearing to hesitate on the ledge of the second floor building at Coimbatore college in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Thursday. Eyewitnesses allege the girl was not willing to jump off the ledge into a net held below, according to India Today. The drill instructor trainer pushed her and she fell, hitting her head on the floor below. She was pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.

Initial reports of the tragedy said that the mock exercise was organised by India’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). “As part of the drill, the NDMA personnel had asked the boys and girls to jump from the second floor,” police said.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

However, in a bizarre twist, the NDMA distanced itself from the incident, saying that it had not authorised any drill at the college, The Hindu reports.

Coimbatore superintendant of police Pa Moorthy said that he had been the video which appears to show the trainer pushing the girl, according to New Indian Express.“After inquiring with the students, the trainer will be booked under appropriate sections of the Indian Penal Code,” he said.

The Hindu reports that two special police teams have been formed to investigate the incident.