The Hindu : Karnataka News : Boy crushed to death as tree falls in zoo

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 18, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Boy crushed to death as tree falls in zoo

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE, MARCH 17. Tragedy struck a group of tiny-tots from a play home at the Mysore Zoo today when a silver oak tree collapsed killing a four-year-old boy and injuring two children.

Maqthum, a resident of Rajiv Nagar, died on the spot while Tehareen and Misba suffered head injuries. The incident left the authorities concerned stunned even as they rushed the victims to the hospital. The zoo was closed for the day following the accident.

The group comprising nine children from the Little Buds Play Home of Rajiv Nagar were brought to the zoo for a picnic by their teachers. The authorities said the children were walking from the hippopotamus enclosure towards the exit when the tree came crashing down. While Maqthum was crushed to death, the others in the group ran helter-skelter.

The authorities and other visitors rushed to the spot after the children started crying, and shifted the injured to the hospital. The doctors declared Maqthum as "brought dead."

Tehareen and Misba were admitted to the emergency ward. They were later shifted to another hospital for CT scan as the doctors suspected that they could have suffered severe head injuries. Another child, Naiz, was treated as an outpatient.

The zoo authorities said the tree had been rendered hollow and had collapsed under its own weight. It was unfortunate that the children were passing by that way when the tree came crashing.

Senior zoo officials, including the executive director, Manoj Kumar, the Deputy Commissioner, Kumar G. Naik, and the Commissioner of Police, Praveen Sood, visited the spot. The Minister of State for Labour, Tanveer Sait, inspected the site of the accident. He later visited the hospital and enquired about the condition of the injured and expressed grief over the incident.

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