Coimbatore college student dies as disaster drill goes wrong, trainer arrested

Coimbatore: A 19-year-old student died when she jumped off the third floor of a college building here during a disaster management drill, following which a trainer was arrested for allegedly prodding her to take the leap, police said today.

In a video of the incident, which went viral, the girl appeared to be reluctant to take the jump even though a net was put up for her safe landing and, it seemed, the trainer was trying to push her, they said. Lokeshwari, a second-year BBA student, who finally took the jump, hit a sunshade in the second floor, police said.

She suffered serious head injuries and died while being taken to a government hospital yesterday, they said. Students also claimed that Lokeshwari was not willing to jump. Police said R Arumugam, who claimed to be a trainer of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), was arrested based on a complaint by the student’s father and remanded to custody.

However, the NDMA said it was not associated with the drill and that the trainer was not authorised by it to conduct the exercise. “Unfortunate that this incident has happened & we have lost a young life. Our heartfelt condolences to the family,” it said.

“However, the National Disaster Management Authority wasn’t involved in this drill. The trainer wasn’t authorized by NDMA to conduct such a drill,” it said in a tweet.