Tura, Sept 21: A young school boy, who was barely in his early teens tragically lost his life when a log of timber he was helping to carry with his other classmates reportedly fell and crushed him at the playground of Loyola School in Dawagre, Williamnagar.

The tragic accident took place at around 10:45 am on Tuesday morning when a group of 25 boys from Class IX had gone to the field to remove six logs of timber that had been previously felled and kept on the ground.

“It is a very unfortunate incident. We are deeply saddened with what took place. It all happened in a sudden instance,” informed authorities of Loyola School, a reputed institution run by the Jesuit missionaries.

Meanwhile,  questions have been raised as to why no strict supervision was done when such works were being undertaken.

The tragic accident

According to the school officials, the boys were working in groups to roll and push the logs out of the field into lower ground since it was creating an obstacle for the JCB earth mover to do its ground clearance work in the school playground.

“It happened when five boys, four on one side and one at the other end, instead of rolling it over had lifted it and were in the process of throwing it when they lost coordination,” narrated Fr. Sunny Augustine, Loyola College principal who also rushed to the site on hearing of the accident.

As the boys were preparing to throw the timber down the slope they lost the timing, resulting in the log falling on the boy who was lifting it alone at the other end.

Boy succumbs to injuries

The principal of the school, Fr. Melwyn Fernandes, who was also at the ground speaking to the driver of the JCB when the accident took place, rushed the injured boy to the Williamnagar Civil Hospital, but sadly he died before any medical care could be given.

The young victim has been identified as 14-year-old Cherian  M. Sangma who resided with his family at Williamnagar medical colony. His body is being taken to his native place in Rongjeng after conduct of post mortem.