Structural checks are to be carried out on schools across Edinburgh, after a 12-year-old girl died when a “free-standing wall” collapsed on her.

The girl, named locally as Keane Wallis-Bennett, was fatally injured at Liberton High School on Tuesday.

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond promised a rigorous investigation into the accident.

The city council said it would survey all similar walls in its schools as a “precaution”.

The free-standing modesty wall, which was not structural, served as a partition to give pupils privacy when showering in gym changing rooms.

In a statement on Tuesday night, the City of Edinburgh Council said the wall had been checked within the past two years and no problems identified.

Pupils were sent home after the incident, which happened just before 10:00 BST on Tuesday, and the school is to remain closed for the rest of the week.

Building surveyors will carry out a full check at the school before pupils return after the Easter break in three weeks.

Police, who described the case as a “tragic incident”, will meet officials from the Health and Safety Executive later to discuss who will investigate the incident.

Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, who is the MSP for the area, said Liberton High School has had “difficulties with fragmenting and fraying to the fabric” of the building.

But he said he did not believe there were problems with health and safety at the school, or that squeezes on the council’s education budget were hindering school renovation projects.

He told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “I think the council are doing a good job. They are working their way through the school estate. Many schools are being replaced, particular actions were taken in every school where there was a requirement.

“The city council has always put the safety of pupils paramount. That is why I welcome their review to ensure that the situation is safe in every school.

“There are challenges, they do have to prioritise, but I do believe that they have been doing the correct job.”

Floral tributes have been left outside the school, with one bunch including a card that read: “Rest in peace Keane. God has gained another angel.”

One pupil at the school, 13-year-old Devon Blyth, told the BBC she had warned a teacher some months ago that there was an unstable wall in the girl’s changing room near the old gym – where the incident took place.

She said: “There was a wall that’s been wobbly for months.”

She said she had told a teacher who had said that “it should be fine – and then this has happened”.

In February, Edinburgh City Council was fined £8,000 after a pupil received serious injuries when she fell down a lift shaft at Liberton High School, in December 2011.

‘Rigorous investigation’

The school, which has about 650 pupils, was built in 1959, and the PE accommodation was refurbished in the mid-1980s.

A report prepared for the council in December 2013 recommended a programme of repairs to the school buildings, although there was no indication of structural work being required.

A council statement on Tuesday evening said: “A full survey of all our schools, including Liberton High School, was carried out in 2012/13 and no concerns with this wall were identified.

Head of Schools Andy Gray and Supt Matt Richards spoke at a news briefing

“However, as a precaution, specialist council building services staff will be surveying all similar walls in schools where we know that they exist.”

A council spokesman added: “As a further precaution, a full survey will be carried out on Liberton High School in the coming days before the main school building re-opens to pupils.”

First Minister Alex Salmond, who visited the school in December, promised there would be a “rigorous investigation”.

“It’s really tragic circumstances and my heart goes out to the family and friends,” he said.

“A proper investigation will takes its course.”

He said that, at first sight, the circumstances did not seem to be related to an earlier lift-shaft accident.

The associate minister at Liberton Kirk, Reverend Dave Rankin, is one of the chaplains at Liberton High School.

He said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the girl who has died.

“The chaplaincy team will offer ongoing support and comfort to the school and the local