Falling iron gate injures child at Pt Fortin school

A seven-year-old schoolboy is warded at the San Fernando General Hospital after a heavy iron gate fell on him at his school. Jameel Ali, a Standard Two pupil of the Point Fortin ASJA Primary School, was opening the back gate to let in a vendor when it fell on him. The sliding gate leads to the front entrance of the Point Fortin ASJA mosque, which is on the same compound as the school.

Roger Panlfik, who lives nearby, said around 7.45 am he was at home when he heard his mother screaming. “When I went outside I saw the gate on top of the child. A woman and about three or four students were trying to lift the gate off the child. The child was screaming and crying,” he added. He said the gate was heavy but he and two technicians from a nearby EHS base were able to lift it off the child.

Panlfik added: “There was a lot of blood. The child was bleeding from a big cut to his head. He complained about pains to his leg and arms. “The EHS technicians did a good job in calming him. They bandaged him up and put on a neck brace.” He said the boy’s parents were contacted. 

ASJA president general Yacoob Ali said he did not know the extent of the child’s injuries. He said: “I don’t think it is anything serious. The principal said he went to the hospital to do X-rays and so on.” Ali said students were not allowed to go to the mosque unaccompanied by a parent or teacher. He said the children would usually be taken to the mosque on Fridays to worship.

“I told the principal to investigate what happened and let me know,” he added. Ali said he also told the imam to keep in constant contact with the parents and support them in any way he could. The Education Ministry and the Point Fortin Police were not aware of the incident yesterday.