Mandya: Three students and a teacher were seriously injured after a branch of a tree fell on them while climbing a hill, triggering panic among the locals as an ambulance did not reach the spot.

On Saturday November 19, 110 students from Lions School in Nanjanagudu had taken a tour to Melukote Yoganarasimhaswamy Hill, a world famous religious place. Students Nishant, Varun, Yogesh and teacher Keshava Rao were seriously injured when a dry peepal tree fell on them while climbing the hill.

The injured students and teachers were given first aid at Melukote Primary Health Centre. One student’s leg was broken and two others sustained head and eye injuries. The injured have been shifted to K. R. Hospital in Mysuru for further treatment.

Though there was an ambulance at the Melukote Health Centre, the injured struggled without staff on Saturday November 19. As a result, the devotees and the people expressed their displeasure. An hour after the accident, the students were rushed to K.R. Hospital in Mysuru in an ambulance from Pandavapura. There is no dedicated ambulance facility in Melukote. There were complaints that other staff were not deployed when the staff was on leave.