Hebri: 4 students at Valmiki Ashram School hospitalized with burn injuries

Hebri: Four students of the Valmiki Ashram School here, sustained severe burn injuries and were admitted to hospitals in Udupi.

The incident occurred on November 9 but came to light a little late. The mishap took place in an area behind the hostel premises, when a fire reportedly started by the students themselves by using hand sanitizers, went out of hand.

The injured have been identified as Srinivas and Amaresh of Class 4 and Vinod and Manoj of Class 5. One among them is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Manipal while the rest are admitted to Udupi District Hospital.

A day after the incident, on November 10, Hebri Police visited the scene of the mishap for an investigation.

Members of the Hebri village panchayat also visited the school on Thursday evening and expressed their outrage over the negligence of the department.  Gram Panchayat president Malathi alleged that there was an attempt to hush up the matter. “We had no information about the incident. Even after a day of the mishap, no information was relayed,” she said and added that an appeal has been sent for strict action against the erring officials.

Assistant Director of the Social Welfare Department Raghvendra Varnekar said that the children tried to set fire to a pile of garbage using sanitizer liquid which went wrong and they received burns. The injured were immediately rushed to hospital. They are currently undergoing medical treatment. They are out of danger, he said.