GUJRANWALA: The Satellite Town police on Sunday registered a case against six people including the owner-cum-principal of the school a day after a wall collapse left six people, five students among them, dead in Fareed Town.

The deceased were laid to rest in the graveyards of Fareed Town amid moving scenes.

On Saturday, the annual prize-distribution ceremony of K.T. Model School on Kashmir Road was going on and students, their parents and teachers had gathered in the courtyard when the wall of the second floor collapsed. Five students Fatima Rasool, 14, Shayan, 8, Noor, 16, Khadija, 11, Mohsin, 7, and Kausar, 35, were buried alive while 13 other people were injured. The injured including Shazia, Shafaq, Sheza, Jannat, Noor Fatima and Gulshan were shifted to the District Headquarters (DHQ) hospital.

City Police Officer Moeen Masood told reporters on Sunday that Muhammad Saeed, the father of eight-year-old Shayan, submitted an application stating that his son, a student of class 2, was among those attending an event. “I got information at 11:30am that a wall of the school had collapsed on the students and many of them had been injured. I reached the school and learnt that Shayan and many others had lost their lives,” he said.

Holding Saeed Zafar, the owner and principal of the school, Tariq Saeed, Khalid Saeed, Imran Saeed, Asad and Kamran responsible for the tragedy, he requested police to take action against them.

The CPO said a case had been registered against the suspects under section 322 of CrPC.

Commissioner Waqas Ali Mahmood, MNA Khurram Dastagir Khan, Mayor Sheikh Sarwat Ikram and MPA Abdul Rauf Mughal visited the houses of the deceased and condoled with their families.

Meanwhile, a number of people including students of various schools took out a rally to protest the government indifference for its failure to ensure regular inspection of buildings. The protesters led by Mian Fazalur Rehman had held placards and banners and shouted slogans demanding that the authorities concerned ensure fitness of buildings.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2019