Key points
- All seven who died were students
- School building was old, collapsed due to rainfall: police
- Frantic parents, teachers and locals join rescue
ISLAMABAD: The roof of a government middle school building collapsed Friday in India’s western state of Rajasthan, killing seven children and injuring at least 21.
The collapse occurred soon after the students had reached their classrooms and were about to start the school assembly, AP reported, quoting a police official.
The school building was old and collapsed as a result of heavy rainfall in the region, a local police officer told Reuters.
Rajasthan BJP Govt School https://t.co/83uK8CylDr pic.twitter.com/VNFfP0sL6Q
— Roshan Rai (@RoshanKrRaii) July 25, 2025
All seven who died were students, he added.
“Stones started falling inside… Suddenly, the whole roof fell and we came out. There were 30 students in the classroom,” a student, who was not named, told the ANI news agency.
Frantic parents, teachers, and locals immediately joined the rescue effort, sifting through mounds of debris to pull out the trapped students, local media reported.
No prior warning
Local official Ajay Singh said the accident will be investigated, according to the Press Trust of India. He added that while the district administration had recently requested a list of dilapidated school buildings from the education department, this school was not on it.
The school, located in Piplod village of Jhalawar district, has students studying up to eighth grade, or what is called a middle school in India.
A total of around 35 students were present when the roof collapsed. All seven fatalities were students from the seventh and eighth grades, Kumar said. The injured have been transported to two local hospitals for treatment.
