Rubbish, Says Bengaluru School As Viral Video Claims 9 Students Died

Bengaluru: A video widely in circulation on WhatsApp claims nine children died during the annual function of a reputed school in Bengaluru. Though the event shown in the video is nearly two years old, the message tagged with it does not mention the date of occurrence. The 29-second video that has been doing the rounds for almost a month now shows a framed aluminium structure suddenly falling down, trapping a group of children performing on stage during the Max Mueller School event that was held at the Ambedkar stadium.

The school administration has dismissed the allegations of deaths, while confirming that a mishap did take place. "Only one student got minor injuries in the incident but one of our school teachers who was grievously injured is still undergoing medical treatment. Somebody has deliberately put up this video with malafide intent to tarnish the school's reputation," Hemlata, the headmistress of Max Mueller School, said. The school has already filed a case with the Bengaluru cyber police.

Pinky Sharanappa, the school teacher who suffered a fracture in her right hand and subsequently developed neurological complications, is still undergoing physiotherapy. "I was anchoring the event when suddenly the aluminium structure snapped. All of us present there were caught unawares, there was just no time to react," Ms Sharanappa told NDTV.

The Bengaluru Police had filed a case against the school administration for the incident that took place on February 13, 2016. But a city court struck down the allegations in November last year, saying that there was no evidence to hold the school guilty of negligence.