A school in north-central Nigeria collapsed during morning classes on Friday, initially trapping about 154 students and setting off a frantic search for those in the rubble. Authorities say 22 died.
The two-storey Saints Academy college in Plateau state’s Busa Buji community caved in shortly after students, many of whom were 15 or younger, arrived for classes.
Plateau police spokesperson Alfred Alabo later said 132 of the students had been rescued and were being treated for injuries in various hospitals. An earlier report by local media had said at least 12 people were killed.
Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency said rescue and health workers as well as security forces had been deployed at the scene immediately after the collapse, launching a search for the trapped students.
“To ensure prompt medical attention, the government has instructed hospitals to prioritise treatment without documentation or payment,” Plateau’s commissioner for information, Musa Ashoms, said in a statement.
The state government blamed the tragedy on the school’s “weak structure and location near a riverbank”. It urged schools facing similar issues to close down.
Dozens of villagers gathered near the school, some weeping and others offering to help, as excavators combed through the debris.
One woman was seen wailing and attempting to go closer to the rubble as others held her back.
Building collapses are becoming common in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, with more than a dozen such incidents recorded in the past two years. Authorities often blame such disasters on failure to enforce building safety regulations and poor maintenance.
