A Class 2 student died in a fire at the Har Mandir Ashram Residential School in Katakeri village of Heravanad, under Bettageri Gram Panchayat limits of Madikeri Taluk. Fortunately, the remaining 52 students escaped.
The victim, Pushpak (7), was the son of farmer Kekada Anil Kumar of Chettimani village in BhagamandalaHobli and Triveni, a guest teacher at Kundacheri Government School. Reports indicate that a fire broke out at around 4 a.m. on Thursday in the hostel of Har Mandir Ashram Residential School, run by a Delhi-based NGO. Out of 53 students who were asleep, 52 managed to escape, but Pushpak was trapped and succumbed to the fire.
Students Tanvit from Siddapur and Bhuvan from Hassan, along with staff members Sumitra and Monica, sustained injuries and are recovering at the Madikeri District Hospital. Established in 2019, Har Mandir Residential School provides free English-medium education to poor students from Classes 1 to 7 in hut-like rooms. A total of 102 students from different parts of the state study there, with 72 residing in the hostel. Some students were still away due to the Dasara holidays.
Among the 53 students present, including Pushpak and his sister Sinchan (10), who is in Class 6, 30 boys and 23 girls were sleeping in the building that night. Teachers and staff members also lived in the same premises.
The fire broke out on the hostel roof and quickly engulfed the entire structure. A student, Babin Bidappa from Kalur, woke up and raised an alarm. Hearing the screams, staff and villagers rushed in and rescued most of the students.
However, as the fire intensified, one student was found missing. Due to the heat and flames, the rescuers were unable to enter the room. The fire brigade arrived promptly and extinguished the blaze, but Pushpak, trapped by smoke and fire, perished on the spot.
His body was found in a severely burnt state during firefighting operations and was handed over to his parents after post-mortem examination.
Deputy Commissioner Venkat Raja, Additional Superintendent of Police Barike Dinesh, Madikeri Tahsildar Sridhar, DDPI Gangadharappa, Fire Department officials, CHESCOM officers, Rural Police personnel, and forensic experts visited and inspected the scene.
Deputy Commissioner Venkat Raja consoled the parents of the deceased and expressed deep sorrow over the incident.
He later told reporters that higher officials would conduct a detailed investigation and that the government’s attention would be drawn to provide compensation to the bereaved family. He assured that the district administration would extend full support to them.
Additional Superintendent of Police Barike Dinesh said that school staff had managed to rescue 52 children and that a detailed police investigation is underway.
