19-year-old BBA student dies as disaster drill goes horribly wrong, trainer arrested

Coimbatore/Chennai: A 19-year-old student died when she jumped off the second floor of a college building here during a disaster management drill, following which a trainer was arrested for allegedly prodding her to leap, police said on Friday.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami said he had directed the police and the higher education department to take stringent action against those who organised the drill "without obtaining due approval".

He also announced a solatium of Rs 5 lakh to the victim's family. In a video of the incident, which went viral, the girl appeared hesitant to take the jump even though a net was put up for her safe landing and, it seemed, the trainer was trying to push her, police said.

Lokeshwari, a second-year BBA student, who finally took the jump, hit a sunshade in the first floor, police said.

She suffered severe head injuries and died while being taken to a government hospital on Thursday, they added.

Students also claimed she was not willing to jump.

Police said R Arumugam, who claimed to be a trainer of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), was arrested based on a complaint by the student's father and remanded to custody.

However, the NDMA said it was not associated with the drill and that the trainer was not authorised by it to conduct the exercise.

"Unfortunate that this incident has happened & we have lost a young life. Our heartfelt condolences to the family," it said.

"However, the National Disaster Management Authority wasn't involved in this drill. The trainer wasn't authorised by NDMA to conduct such a drill," it said in a tweet.

Palaniswami condoled the student's death and expressed his sympathies to the family of the deceased.