EXCLUSIVE
A ‘beautiful’ student who died after being crushed by a lift at a special needs school was an only child who is believed to have had a fixation on elevators.
Sanad Shahriar, 10, became trapped underneath a lift in an old building at St Lucy’s School in Wahroonga, in Sydney’s Upper North Shore, about 2pm on Wednesday.
In distressing scenes, emergency services tried to remove Sanad from the lift, but despite their best efforts, he died at the scene.
Sanad was the only child of Hasan Shariar, an engineering manager, and Dr Yasmin Haque, a GP, who works at a local medical centre.
Sanad Shahriar, 10 (pictured) was tragically killed in a school accident on Wednesday
Sanad was the only child of Hasan Shariar and Dr Yasmin Haque (pictured)
A Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) alumni Facebook group announced the sad news on Thursday.
‘With extremely heavy heart I am announcing the only son of our BUETian brother Hasan Shahriar (EEE’96) has passed away in an incident in the school yesterday,’ the post read.
‘Please pray for the sweet little Sanad and Hasan Shahriar and Dr Yasmin.’
Police are investigating whether the lift, which was situated on the ground floor of the school’s Veritas Building, was faulty.
The school was reportedly raising money to upgrade the Veritas building – a 1970s structure – with new facilities. St Lucy’s has declined to comment.
Detectives are examining whether the lift may have malfunctioned – allowing the doors to open before the elevator was ready to operate.
The precise circumstances of how the incident occurred aren’t clear, with investigators hoping CCTV will show what happened.
Emergency services were called to the Wahroonga school, in Sydney’s Upper North Shore, about 2pm on Wednesday
Flowers and cards have amassed outside the school as the community comes to terms with the tragedy
Tributes piled up out the front of St Lucy’s, which accommodates both primary and high school students with autism, sensory impairments and mild to severe intellectual disabilities.
Bouquets and hand written cards were seen stacked on top of a table erected outside the front office on Wednesday afternoon, with one note reading: ‘Rest in peace sweet boy’.
Laminated heart-shaped cards made by students from St Edmund’s – a neighbouring special education school in Wahroonga – were strung up across the front gate, bearing messages of condolences to students and teachers.
Pictured: Heart-shaped cards made by St Edward’s School students were seen lining the front gate on Wednesday
‘Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this sad time. We extend our sympathy and hold you in our hearts,’ the cards read.
SafeWork NSW and NSW Police are investigating the tragedy, with inspectors and officers seen patrolling the school on Wednesday.
A SafeWork NSW spokeswoman said it ‘has been notified of a fatal incident at a school in Wahroonga’.
‘SafeWork’s investigation is ongoing and no further comment can be made at this time.’
As the tragedy unfolded on Wednesday, the school was placed into lockdown, with about 230 students from K-12 required to stay in their classrooms.
Parents were notified around 2.30pm that there had been a ‘medical emergency’ and were advised there would be a delay picking up their children.
The school remains closed indefinitely amid the investigation.