19 year old girl dies after jumping from 2nd floor during fire drill

A fire drill conducted in a private college in Coimbatore went horribly long in which a 19 year old girl  student lost her life. Though a net was held by students on the ground, the girl hit the sushade on the first floor.

The bizarre disaster preparedness drill took place on Thursday at the Kalai Magal Arts and Science College in Coimbatore, where Lokeswari was studying for a business degree. At about 4 pm, students of the college were being shown how to escape if disaster strikes. A video of the training session has caught the moments before Lokeswari died. She was seen crouching on the ledge, looked too scared to follow trainer Arumugan’s instructions to jump.

Witnesses said Lokeswari did not want to jump even though a small group of people below promised to catch her. Police said about 20 students were given training to jump through an emergency window. The college management had organised training on ‘disaster management and first aid’ on the college premises on Thursday morning. Arumugam, the trainer officer, who police said had a certificate from the National Disaster Management Authority to conduct training programmes, had come to take the classes.