MUZAFFARGARH, May 4: The headmistress of the Government Girls Primary School, Basti Ghalwan, Alipur, has said that it was recess time when the wall collapsed on Thursday, and if there was some other time, at least 50 to 80 girls and some staff members would have died.

Four nursery class girls had died in wall collapse.

Headmistress Madam Nazneen said on Friday there were 340 students in the school which had only three classrooms. Around 80 children used to sit in the shade of the wall.

She said students were playing in the compound and around 20 were standing by the wall. Apparently, the wall looked stable with some cracks in it.

She said when the wall collapsed, she immediately called ambulance and the people pulled out the children from under the rubble.

She said she had informed the education officer in 2001 when the building was being constructed that substandard material was being used.

DCO Dr Nazir Akhtar on Friday set up a team to probe the collapse which also left 17 others injured. He has declared two-day mourning in Alipur and closed the school.

Meanwhile, mason Sadiq who had built the school said the contractor had used highly substandard material.

When contacted, inquiry team chief Syed Naveed Shah said he would complete the task within three days.

He said he had called contractor Amjad, buildings department sub-engineer Muhammad Salim and SDO Muhammad Habib but they did not turn up.

The chief minister and the DCO, in the meantime, announced Rs100,000 and Rs10,000 compensation respectively for each grieved family.

But Bashir Hussain, the father of Arifa and Muneeza, refused to take the compensation.

HOT WEATHER: A four-year-old student of Government Primary School, Sakarwala, fell unconscious on Friday due to heat.