School wall falls, pupil hurt

Damaged:A fireman talking to school officials at the scene.

MALACCA: A Year Two pupil suffered injuries after the wall of a classroom at SRK Jasin collapsed on her.

In the 12.50pm incident, eight-year-old Nurul Izatul Amira Zakaria was walking along the corridor when the wall suddenly came crashing down.

Preliminary findings revealed that strong winds caused the wall collapse.

The victim who suffered abrasions on her back and hands was rushed to Jasin Hospital but was allowed to return after treatment.

State Education, Higher Learning, Science and Technology committee chairman Datuk Wira Md Yunos Husin said the school administration was shocked over the incident.

“This incident shouldn’t have occurred as the building structure would have been evaluated before being approved,” he said when interviewed.

Md Yunos said it was shocking that strong winds could cause a solid wall to collapse.

“Let us wait for the full report from Public Works Department on the cause of the incident and decide on further action against those responsible,” he said, adding that the heavy gust of wind was experienced in most parts of Malacca yesterday.

Cases of school structures collapsing is rare but it has occurred in the country.

Late last year, a school in Sarawak was on the verge of sliding into a river running by the school compound because of erosion.

The pupils had to be relocated due to safety issues.

Just a few months before that, part of the ceiling of the library at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Mohamad Ali near Ranau, Sabah, collapsed following a mild earthquake.

No one was injured in the incident but the library has remained closed for some time. -Star