When the news spread that five girl students in a private junior high school in Huaibei, Anhui province, were crushed to death in a school wall collapse, people throughout the country felt an ache in their hearts at the loss of these young lives.

When the five teenagers at Tongren Middle School gathered together with others under the 3.3-meter-high wall encircling the playground to watch and cheer on their male classmates playing a basketball match on Monday afternoon, they would not have sensed the specter of death approaching. The entire 30-meter-long wall suddenly collapsed, burying students under the rubble. As well as the five girls who died two others were injured.

School personnel have been detained and a police investigation is now underway.

Despite a report from the local educational authorities in January indicating the annual safety examination last year confirmed the school's facilities "basically" met safety standards, it was only as a result of the rectification measures the school authorities were urged to take after their failure to pass the 2012 safety examination.

Media reports have revealed chaotic and worrisome facts about the school, which was set up in 1984 and is the largest private school in Huaibei. One media report cited a person who acted as the school's headmaster for a short time in the 1990s as saying the wall was raised to 3.3 meters from the previous 2.5 meters, but it remains unknown whether the additional height followed proper procedure or it was simply raised as if on a whim. The school's current headmaster, Li Qiang, served time in prison after being found guilty of repeatedly taking bribes from project operators when he acted as head of Huaibei Normal College. Li was appointed head of Tongren Middle School after he was released from jail, and the investigation should determine whether any dirty deals undermined the integrity of the school premises.