Karnataka: Five students die of electric shock in Koppal

Five students died due to an electric shock at a hostel here on Sunday.

The incident happened in Devaraj Arasu BCM hostel, which is situated in Bannikatti in Koppal. The hostel is running in a private building.

The deceased students have been identified as Mallikarjun, Basavaraj, Devaraj, Ganesh and Kumar.

"In Koppal, five students have died due to electric shock. I have ordered an investigation in this case. I have given instructions to Deputy Commissioner to give Rs 5 lakh compensation in this case to the five families on Monday itself," Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said.

"The incident happened when the students went to remove the flag pole. There is an 11 kV transformer next to the hostel. Hostel warden should not have asked the students to remove the flagpole. We will take action against the warden and Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company Limited (GESCOM)," P Sunil Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Koppal district said.

-ANI