5-yr-Old Student Dies at LB Stadium During Sports Day Celebrations

Hyderabad: A five-year-old UKG student drowned to death upon falling into a poorly-covered sump at the LB Stadium during his school’s annual Sports Day celebrations on Tuesday.

The police identified the boy as Mohammed Aahil, a student of Success The School’s Tolichowki branch. They said that Aahil, after the celebrations concluded around 7 pm, was waiting to show a certificate he had secured to his mother when the incident took place.

“I was in the spectator area waiting for my son Aahil, as my other son had already caught up with me after the events. I went to check when other school kids told me that Aahil fell into a sump on the rear side of the dais. I heard my son shouting ‘Ammi mujhe bachalo baher nikalo’, when two persons, Muzammel and Mohammed Altaf who were in the vicinity, helped me pull Aahil out,” Shafia Sultana, the boy’s mother, said.

She said that by the time they pulled him out, he had fainted due to panic.

“I carried Aahil in my arms and took an auto to reach a hospital. There was a delay because the stadium gates were locked and the guards refused to open the gates, stating they had orders,” Altaf, one of the rescuers, said.

“I rushed the kid to a private hospital in Basheerbagh, along with Aahil’s aunt Farida Sultana and his mother Shazia Sultana. Doctors, after examining him, declared him dead,” said Altaf, who works as a car accessory technician on the stadium premises.

He said that the kids were playing near the sump that had a weak top and that a guard might have placed a boulder to cover it not noticing Aahil being trapped.

Sources at the LB Stadium confirmed that the sump was not covered properly and that sheets were placed on it after the incident. They said that the sump was filled with water to around four feet.

Shazia Sultana said that while there were several people from the school management, none of them helped her. She said that upon learning of Aahil’s death, the school management fled the scene.

The police said they have registered a case and are investigating it.

“Based on a complaint, we rushed to the scene and inspected the sump, which is over eight feet in depth and was filled with water to four feet. As it was covered with a fabric sheet, the kid might have fallen through upon placing his feet on it and drowned. We have registered a case of death due to negligence under Section 304 (A) of the IPC and are investigating,” said Suresh Reddy, Saifabad police sub-inspector.

Aahil was the youngest son of Shazia Sultana and Abdul Haji Ali, who works in the Middle East.

MBT spokesman Amjadullah Khan, said, “I demand action against Success school management and also the stadium for not covering the sump properly. The stadium management and maintenance department are responsible for the tragic death of an innocent kid.”

The victim’s body was handed over to the family after a post-mortem examination on Wednesday, and his final rites were performed.