Blackburn schoolgirl dies after falling in icy conditions (From Lancashire Telegraph)

So sad. Now where are you all who said schools should not have closed? So sad.

So sorry for your loss! What a tragedy

very tragic!!!

My deepest condolences go out to the family through this difficult time. The loss of a loved one is always a tragedy but to lose somebody so young is truly heartbreaking. I hope the childs schoolfriends are not too upset by their loss and may all affected receive help & generosity throughout this period.

I don't think blame can be layed on anybody but the severe weather we have recently experienced. It's a shame that the days when local communities would pull together and clear all paths to schools etc have long gone. Many people were quick in complaining that it was the councils fault due to no grit etc, but did any of these people actually offer a helping hand ? We are all quite capable of obtaining a shovel or spade and helping out.

A truly sad tragedy.

Very sad news.
The pavements have been absolutely treacherous since the slight thaw and rain turning the snow to ice, and I think right now, in Darwen at least, conditions are the worst underfoot that they've been so far this winter.
Take care, people.
And motorists, have a care for pedestrians walking on the road because the pavements are too dangerous -drivers have blasted their horns at me three times today just for walking in the gutter.

Yes, let us also hope the same motorists show due care and attention in this rapidly descending fog that is enshrouding Darwen. Though the fog is because of the evaporating ice mostly. But let us not be reading in LET in the next few days of some racing yahoo mowing down anyone beit child, adult or elderly.

sincere condolences, an absolute tragedy.

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji un!
Very sad news..the pavement have been very icy since the last few days.The school should have done something about gritting ,not just the pathway but the most of the school parimeter.
May Allha give sabar to the parents and the family.

My condolences to the family!
the council and government should consider gritting pavements and roads, instead of spending tax payers money on illegal wars.

God only picks the most beautiful flowers. As the father of two young children I find myself in tears at your devasting loss. God bless you all and keep safe your precious angel.

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji un,

Empathy for the sad loss

A massive loss, to the immediate and wider family members. Such an innocent life been taken.

Stupid schools fault, instructing the girl to use another entrance because she had arrived too early and the councils fault for not clearing pathways in the schools parameter for safe access for students and parents.

This is so sad, but I'm suprised a lot more tragedies haven't happened, I have been trying to get about on foot as I won't risk driving, the pavements are absolutley treacherous, yesterday I was appalled at the conditions around park lee rd on which there is a school, cars were sliding on the roads, pavements were terrible, mums and dads were trying their best to get the kids there on time, I believe there were some accidents and the gritter came after, also on the grass are car tyre marks where a cars ended up, I really do believe the schools should have closed thursday and friday this week for everyones sake, then this tragedy might not have happened

The worst part of this sad news is : the girl was 2 mins late arriving to school, as she was late the staff at main entrance told her she was not allowed to come through main entrance and will have to go into class via the second entrance which is on the other side of the school, for this the girl had to walk out of the main gates, (out of school bounds) out on the icy footpath, being an 11 year old, she probably was scared of being late in class, so I guess she might had been running or walking fast, and next thing that happened is she slips and today we learn the sad news.
Blame culture is awful, but I am angry because the girl was already inside the school premises where gritting had taken place and then by a member of staff she was told to walk round the school out side where gritting had not taken place, i understand school rules are important but sometimes the school and staff responsible should consider the icy conditions before they send young kids out on the footpath .. Just because they are late for school it does not mean it has to cost their life, i do not think the staff member responsible would had sent her daughter round to the second school entrance.. I AM SO ANGRY

Just watching this on Granda Reports, this is so so sad! My heart goes out to her family, poor poor girl

My heart goes out to the family of this girl. I am so saddened by the news. It was only a matter of time before a tragedy like this occurred. My children's school was closed all last week due to the snow and to be honest I would have been happy to see it closed this week as well because I think the 'melting period' of the snow is worse than the snow itself. How myself and my two children have managed to walk down our icy slope of a street to and from the school this week with all our bones intact I do not know. The road crossings and pavements outside the school have been lethal these past two days but guess what - the gritters were out today - at 3.30pm, after the whole school week had finished. I guess this news had filtered through and the council finally decided to do something before we saw a repeat.

What a very sad, tragic story. Sincere condolences to this famlily. Can't imagine what they are going through. Bless you all xxx

Hopefully we can now go back to sympathising with the family and expressing our regret for the tragedy.
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please repost your condoalances.
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a truly gruesome event. my heart is with you at this incredibly sad time.

My condolances and sympathies go to all involved .

As a parent myself, I cannot begin to imagine how this young girls parents and family are feeling. A tragic accident and my sincere and deepest symapthy goes out to you all and your special girl will be remembered in my prayers, rest in peace angel

I work in Blackburn and today it was like an ice rink, it was far more luck than judgement that I didn't fall. My colleague fell 3 times during a 5 minute walk from car to work. The state of the pavements is appalling and for this poor young girl to lose her life like this is disgraceful. My sincere condolences to her family and friends.

Its been hard enough these last few weeks for people in Lancashire and now this.
I feel so sad and empty.
Please accept my heartfelt sorrow to all the immediate family and the County of Lancashire, a very sad day

It's sad that an innocent child has lost their life after slipping on ice. This could have obviously been avoided if the penny pinching council had planned adequately. There may may be a shortage of salt/grit. But surely there are other options in this day and age. Only earlier today my 5yr old son and his older sister slipped on ice on the way to school. The ice was so bad they had to return home. Later they tried again but my son slipped and fell on his face. As a result I had to take my son to casualty. Luckily he is fine but as we all know it could have been worse. I reported the ice to the council and they were barely sympathetic and sounded like they did not know what to do. I despair when our safety is taking second place to Council budgets and council directors wages and pensions.

We should all shout out at their obvious continuing incompetence.

Extending deepest sympathy
For you in your loss.
And hoping, too,
That comfort and peace
May come to you

So sorry for you all x

Frank Jr wrote:
Extending deepest sympathy For you in your loss. And hoping, too, That comfort and peace May come to you So sorry for you all x

here here frank jr, well put couldnt agree more
to the family x

Bless this girl and her family.

Hearing this tragic new was very upsetting, i knew Naeemah and she was a very nice girl. May Allah give sabar to the Family and May Allah Grant Naeemah Jannah x

these comments should not be about blame or darwen or this road not being gritted or late for school or what ever, there are too many rumours floating about, its about posting our deepest sympathys to the family of this little girl, and offering the support they will need

burner wrote:
So sad. Now where are you all who said schools should not have closed? So sad.

I send my deepest sympathy to your family and hope that your Angel is at peace.

I hope that happy memories of your treasured daughter will help you in this dark hour.

Take care and I hope that knowing that others are thinking of you and your family may in some small way give you some strength.

Pulse wrote:
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji un!
Very sad news..the pavement have been very icy since the last few days.The school should have done something about gritting ,not just the pathway but the most of the school parimeter.
May Allha give sabar to the parents and the family.

Would you like the schools to grit right up to your garden paths while they're at it? How ridiculous to suggest that they should be responsible for the area around the school - this is clearly where the council comes in.

This is an absolute tragedy, my heart goes out to this little girls school friends who will now try to come to terms with the loss of their friend.

well said(gasboy99)poor little love so tragic,love to her family R.I.P xxx

poor Girl such a shame, But i bet the pavements are all gritted ASAP now it has taken this tragedy to happen

Just to clarify a few things...

Naeemah was NOT late to school, in fact she was early! Naeemah along with her younger brother, Mother and Aunt got to school early. The School was opening at 10am to allow staff from further a field to arrive to work on time. Naeemah and her family reported to the main school office (as this was the only entrance that was open at this time) where they were told by a member of staff to go and wait at the normal arrival entrance where parents normally drop their children off.

However upon her walk to this entrance she and her brother both slipped and fell down. Her brother got up almost immediately, however unfortunately for Naeemah she fell head first with her forehead taking the impact. There was no way she could have got up. She laid stone cold for 45 minutes before the ambulance arrive at the scene. Family members and friends covered her with their coats to keep her warm during this lengthy wait. Staff members tried to resuscitate her, but to no avail.

There was too much internal bleeding, which had done its damage. The main argument of the Achha family is why on earth Naeemah was not allowed to enter via the initial entrance when the staff and school knew that the icy conditions on the pavement (en route to the main entrance) were not safe! And if they didn’t know, then why wasn’t a risk assessment carried out?

Schools, local authorities, OFSTED and child protection agencies all highlight the need to carry out extensive risk assessments when moving children from one building to another, one road to another. Just to ensure the safety and well being of the children. Yet the school and staff were ever so ignorant of the icy conditions of the surrounding school pavements which would have been used daily by parents and children alike that they told Naeemah and her brother, mother and aunt to walk to the other entrance because they simply arrived to school too early! The school clearly knew that the surrounding school pavements hadn't been gritted by the council, but still couldn’t open their doors to two eager, happy and bubbly children whose only fault was to arrive to school slightly early! I’m so glad to know that the heart of premise under which modern education is offered to children is "every child matters"! I must remind Naeemahs’ parents next time I see them!

All this fuss in the national media saying schools need to open up as the closure was costing the economy millions, yet no mention of the responsibility of the councils and the schools to ensure that the schools were safe and accommodating to pupils under these severe weather conditions. Yet Blackburn Council clearly admitted to gritting the roads and the streets but not the pavements yet we were still expected to take children to school knowing that countless people were slipping daily on these pavements, both young and elderly alike!

No sooner had this tragic accident happened that the school set about clearing the ice from the pavements! Why oh why did they wait for Naeemahs’ death to happen before asking themselves the question, 'Are our roads and pavements safe for the youngsters?' I’m sure the students wouldn’t be allowed to play on icy playgrounds during break time in schools, so why they expect us to bring our children over pavements which are clearly unsafe. And with the threat of cars colliding and skidding over black ice, it’s not always safe or a good bet to walk on the roads all the time!

An inquest will now take place asking these very questions; why weren’t the pavements gritted? whose responsibly? Why was this young innocent, full of life, eager to learn youngster, Naeemah and her brother allowed to enter the school via the main school office? Why did the ambulance not arrive in time? Why did a 999 emergency call take 45 minutes? Yet the school was adjacent to a main dual carriageway! But no doubt and in typical fashion this inquest will absolve anyone and everyone from any remote responsible whatsoever! And whilst we rue over the findings of the inquest report, we will be safe to know that the parents and family will have yet to come to terms with the loss of their daughter and sister.

The more I think about this the more upset I get. So I end by saying the family are very grateful for all the tributes and kind words of comfort which are flooding in, at this difficult time!

The funeral is time is set at 11:30am at Pleasington Cemetery, Blackburn.

May Naeemah finally rest in peace and safety in heaven. Ameen

Love xXx

My deepest sympathy, this is very sad news indeed.

sincere prayers and love to the family and friends of little Naeemah

Can we leave blame and anger for some time in the future, its time to reflect.
Please don't take this the wrong way, now is a time to show togetherness,love and support for each other.
In the future we must not forget this.R.I.P

Such a devastating tradegy.

May Allah give sabr to the family..
I agree with master.Why did the school send children all the way around to the other entrance.Hopefully the inquest will reveal the faults.

the other day my wife took me 5year old to school and she was about 30 secound late and one of the teachers shut the doors. so she went to the other door and the teacher did not let her in.the teacher told her to report to the office which is the other part of building.( she goes to st james primery school). i always come out of e house late because when i go early the doors are not open and we have to stand in the cold or sometimes its raining. the school sometimes open the doors 2/3 mins late' its alright if they late'. i will be speaking to the headteacher when i see him next week. May Allah give sabar to the Family and May Allah Grant Naeemah Jannah 'AMEEN'

My heartfelt condolenses go out to the family of this precious little girl. May allah give the family sabr and be there for them and help them through this sad and difficult time and reward all the people who are there helping the family through these terrible circumstances. Ameen. TO THE PARENTS- Naeemah will be waiting for you at the doors of jannat. Inshallah!!

is this 2010 or or what????how could or did this happen????EVERY street was gritted when i was a kid,this government gives to much to overseas and leaves this country short

RAyzer wrote:
is this 2010 or or what????how could or did this happen????EVERY street was gritted when i was a kid,this government gives to much to overseas and leaves this country short

spot on. millions are given in aid to other countrys while our own have to go without. the pavements are horrendous to walk on yet we are still expected to go about our daily routines. and i swear i have been behind 2 gritters in the past fortnite and neither of them was spreading grit, just making us believe they were.
RIP little girl, this should never have happened

45 MINUTES for an ambulance. that is a disgrace.. rest in peace naeemah,

Madari the snake charmer says:

"R.I.P.........littl
e angel.

Such a tragedy....
It's all well and easy playing the blame game....as humans we automatically look for fault in any system which has disadvantaged us in such a way. I think it's important to remember that this was the decision of the Almighty, had she been late, she still may have fallen, had she been allowed in when requested, she still may have fallen...but the conclusion would still have been the same. We are sent into this world with a 'fixed' living period...and we will not breathe for a second longer than is permissable by the Almighty. This is the decision of Allah...who is All-Knowing, All-Seeing. We must not anger ourselves at circumstances, although it is human nature, we must try and remember that the little girl is indeed very lucky to have passed away sinless. No enquiry or inquest is going to bring her back and nor can anything said or done by the council or school change anything. My deepest sympathies to the parents and family...it may not seem so in this life, but in the hereafter you will appreciate the decision of the Almighty.

This accident could have happened to anyone. Naeemah was desperately unlucky and not at fault. Many of us have had near misses this week as the conditions underfoot on pavements worsened on Wednesday and Thursday. The lack of gritting on pavements throughout East Lancashire was appalling and inexcusable as the conditions worsened. It is easy to identify priority pavements around major amenities such as schools, and in memory of Naeemah this must be a lesson learned for future winters. We can all accept disruption for the first day or two, but a week into the crisis, with well-forecasted low overnight temperatures, collective, authorised actions should have been taken to ensure people's safety. How can we preach to Haiti when we allow this to happen here?

m45ster Blackburn. A fine well written tribute in this tragic story of an innocent little girl. How sad for the family, they have my condolences.

A sad end to a young life,but as all Muslims and all other faiths alike know that we all go down that lane one day.I lost a brother and a wife grandad,grandma aunt within 3 years.SABAR best way round

I am truly sorry for this families loss. I would have thought that that leader of Blackburn council would have resigned because of this as this is the least he could do. This council takes our money and gives nothing in return. they are a disgrace to the community.

The seriousness of the council's negligence has cost the life of one to bring to the attention of many.

I see this sad, sad event is becoming yet another witch hunt against school staff.
Maybe we should all wait for the official findings of an inquest before jumping on a bandwagon and seizing the opportunity to (yet again) have a go at school staff, this time those who work at St Michael with St John, some of whom I know, and who are extremely dedicated and passionate members of staff who will be truly devastated at this turn of events.

I see your point - we should not blame all the staff, but like MP's, Some MP's were dedicated to what they do, BUT some MP's were cheats and stole the tax payers money. what did happend was it raised questions just to find out how many were cheats..

ive been taking my kids to roe lee since last thurs, the paths adjacent to the school gate were trecherous and dangerous, i suddenly realised on thurs morning that they had some one shoveling all the ice on the paths leading up to the school! hmmmmmm

rip naeemah
my heart goes out to the family
x

To all the people saying there shouldn't be a blame game going on - this could have been anyone's child and there is clearly negligence involved on the part of some or many parties. If schools are open and the students expected to attend, then the schools and their surroundings should have been made safe. Like a few others on here my children's school was also miraculously gritted on Friday afternoon - too little too late!!! We hear so much about risk assessments, incident forms and health and safety nowadays so why are there no risk assessments carried out near schools? If we are faced with this kind of weather again I suggest parents carry out their own risk assessments and do what is safest even if that means keeping them off school until the ice clears, because as we can see with this tragedy, no apologies and no explanations are ever going to bring Naeemah back. The school, the council and the rest will always have excuses and other priorities.

My deepest sympathy to all the family. I have children myself and could not bare to think this tragedy could happen to one of them.
I think its about time we looked at the culture of six weeks holidays in the summer. Maybe we should look at holidays during adverse weather instead of during summer months.
I don't think that we should be blaming anyone. The school or the council as this kind of accident could've happened to anyone of us at any place.
The gritting arguement has been rumbling on for ages but ask yourselves how many of you have even bothered to clear snow and ice away from outside your front door?
God bless this little girl and her family at this time and I'm sure they will be in all our prayers.

Perhaps its a bit ironic, but I am informed that the pavements of the main streets of the village of Whalley ( main LLC gritting depot base ) were gritted quite thoroughly. Some householders complained because the grit was treading into their houses and getting onto their carpets !

Such a sad loss!
If the councils are skivving and not gritting the footpaths then it should be the school taking responsibility of ensuring the passage to the school entrances are safe before allowing the school doors to be open. I live opposite a high school and the school made sure our street footpath was fully gritted before opening their doors. Parents were asked to get involved and there was a great response as parents were only happy to help to ensure their children were safe.

My thoughts and prayers are with you all at this incredibly sad time. My son, who was in the same school year as Naeemah, suffered serious head injuries and died at Manchester Children's Hospital just over 5 months ago, so I have some understanding of what you may be feeling right now. To lose a child so suddenly and in such tragic circumstances is never fair, but with the love and support of your family and community, you will manage to survive this terrible tragedy. RIP, little girl xxx

My deepest and most heartfelt sympathy go out to the parents and family of naeemah, may allah give them sabar. It was most unfortunate that this accident occurred as it did, but as muslims we should stop looking for scapegoats. At the end of the day it WAS THE WILL OF ALLAH. It was meant to be that the children went round to use the other entrance as on a normal day they would not have even gone there. .
The teacher who sent them back probably never realised how bad the footpaths were and as an every day duty simply told the children that the bell had not gone so if they could just go back to the main entrance.
I have 3 children at the school and i actually commend and thank the teachers how much help they gave to the children. the teachers were standing at a few yard apart and as children came one teacher would escort one round of children to the other in turn passing the children safely to their classrooms. They had closed the playground and the children were taken down one cleared and gritted path to their classrooms.
we would all like to take our anger out on others but as a community we should all stand together and grieve for this little girl who would still be alive "if at the end of the day it had not snowed" if they had not gone to the other entrance, if it had been gritted, if they were not sent back to the other entrance, if the school was shut. Too many if's only one BUT... that is the will of allah. Rest in peace , Naeemah .

brossen99 wrote:
Perhaps its a bit ironic, but I am informed that the pavements of the main streets of the village of Whalley ( main LLC gritting depot base ) were gritted quite thoroughly. Some householders complained because the grit was treading into their houses and getting onto their carpets !

not true. fell 3 times near the school. what's that got to do with it anyway?

My son attends this school, and I know the office staff well. They are extremely helpful and very friendly. I am sure they must have simply been doing as they had been told, and would never intentionally send a child onto an icy road. The track on the grounds of the school had been gritted and maybe they intended her to take this route....we will never know, but my thoughts and prayers are with the family at this time. May Naeemah rest in peace

salams

Ameen to all dua's.

Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Ilayhi Raji'oon

May Allah(swt) grant you and close family members with patience and may she be blessed from here onwards,may Allah swt give u janat ul firdaus...

plse pray surah fatiha once and surah iqlas 3 times for esale sawab for her...

dua may yaad

I heard about Naeemah’s very tragic death through the media on Friday evening. I worked at St Michael with St John Primary School for 2 fantastic years and only left recently because I had to move from the area with my husband’s job. It was the best job I have ever had and I left with regret. I worked with the most wonderful caring, professional, diligent (shall I go on?) staff. Every member of that team was there for the right reasons - they love the children. But not only were the staff amazing, so were the children and their parents. I have worked in a few schools and this school was the best -the relationship between the school and the community was wonderful.
I did not intend to write anything on here but after reading some of the varied comments I changed my mind. Like ‘excaliber’ of Great Harwood, ‘mazx4’ of Blackburn makes me ashamed to be white! This about a little girl who tragically died, not some racist fool’s ignorance. I have also read some positive comments from people who have children at the school and acknowledged how much the staff were doing to try and help the children to stay safe. What remains is a child died. Her parents and younger brother (who must also have witnessed some of this), friends and the staff at the school will all be grieving for her. Let her rest in peace. My thoughts and prayers are with Naeemah’s family and friends and also all the staff at St Michael with St John Primary School.

Hi All.

I say given the Telegraph makes money from the people of Lancashire they should file charges against the Council for failing to keep the highways clear from danger, then while you are at it do the same against the H&S idiots who suggest we do not clear our fronts of snow...
.
I of course cleared the pavement and the road like we all used to do in the days when the British people were sane and ignored the idiots who speak words.
.
Capita and serco...go f@ck yourselves

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji un,

very sad. RIP

...I agree with mazx4. This is a tragic loss but we need to learn lessons not point fingers and aportion blame!
My sympathy goes out to this little girls family and hopefully once they've had time to grieve they will accept that this was a freak accident and nothing else and it could of been anybody's little boy or girl, black or white.

You are in our prayers. To prevent such trageried repeating themselves, I am trying to form an 'Active Parents Snow Patrol', to clear newly fallen snow off south facing potentially sun lit areas, whilst the snow is still light, unattatched and uncompressed, so when the sun comes out, the black tarmac, which is then exposed, warms up and dries. Any black ice, that forms from the mist, can be melted by salt. It took me from 3pm until 10pm to clear the slope and car park area to the community centre at the side of the school, where Sunday worship is held. I cleared what fell again at 5am on the Monday and the school caretaker salted the slope at 6am, which provided access to the school via the community centre parking area. The school gates remained closed and parents used the community centre access slope. The 3 solar panels on our roof harnessed the warmth from the sunshine on this frosty day, warming the 129 litres of water by an unbelievable 5'Celcius each hour from 11 am until 2pm until it became cloudy, no wonder the slope which is south facing was dry. The slope is a much larger are than our roof panels. How much was the ambient surrounding temperature warmed by, I wonder. The upper car park, which I hadn't managed to clear of snow, remained covered with the thick blanket of white glistening snow. The snow had reflected the sun's rays and had not allowed any melting to occur. The cars that used this car park, to drop off children, compressed the snow, and the sludge that formed, consequently froze into uneven slippery monsterous sheet. On Saturday afternoon, I attempted to shovel this partially frozen sludge and because the showel intermittently caught in the frozen parts, I hurt my elbow, shoulder, neck and the immense weight of sludge re-injured my back. I believe that what they do in Latvia and Estonia, 'community clearance' of falling or newly falling snow, by school children and parents and teachers together, allows their stocks of salt to cope with the small amount of snow that still remains after sweeping and shovelling, and avoids accidents from falling on the compressed slippery newly fallen snow. They don't waste salt, melting snow that can be swept away. I would value your comments and observations. I believe, as caring parents, we will come up with a solution, if we put our heads together and we work together. If I had had the foresight to have motivated 30 parents to come and to help clear newly fallen fluffy snow, we would have cleared both community car parks in 15 minutes, that is even without a 'big machine' which blows snow out onto the grassed areas, which our child dreamed up. Thank you for reading my thoughts.