One dead, 12 injured after students allegedly asked to clean septic tank at Rajasthan Madrasa

In an accident that occurred in Rajasthan’s Deeg district on Friday afternoon, a 17-year-old girl was reported dead after falling into a septic tank at a Madrasa. According to the police, the girl died after inhaling toxic gas and being hit by debris from a collapsed tank wall. Twelve other students and one man have been injured in the incident.

The incident took place at the Mill Madrasa in the Gopalgarh area. The Madrasa management allegedly assigned students to clean the septic tank, though some reports suggested that the students voluntarily took up the job.

A staff member from the Madrasa stated that a few days before the incident, a slab covering the septic tank on the premises had collapsed. He said the tank was cleaned using machinery, but some debris remained on one side of the tank.

“On Friday evening, a few female students volunteered to remove the remaining debris and entered the tank. They are believed to have lost consciousness after being exposed to toxic gases inside the tank,” he told the Hindustan Times.

Following this, other students entered the tank without any safety equipment or protection in an attempt to rescue the girls. Hearing about the incident, the madrasa staff allegedly rushed to the spot and immediately took the students to a hospital, where doctors declared one of them dead.

The deceased student was identified as Rohin, a resident of Sakars village in Haryana. The police have sent the body for a postmortem.

There have been allegations that the Madrasa management failed to inform the police at the earliest and tried to conceal the incident.

Once the police received the information, District Collector Mayank Manish and Superintendent of Police Sharan Gopinath immediately reached the site. It is reported that the officials had to wait outside the Madrasa before they could enter. 

Police have launched a formal investigation into the cause of the accident. The authorities have said that strict action will be taken against those found responsible for the accident.