Saint Academy school in central Nigeria collapsed suddenly Friday as students were taking exams, trapping many in the rubble and killing at least 16 people, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
An AFP reporter saw five dead bodies in one hospital morgue and eleven others in another, the outlet reported. All the deceased were wearing school uniforms, AFP noted. (RELATED: Two Fatally Jump Out Of Multi-Story Office Window In Inferno That Killed 8 In Russia: REPORT)
“Trapped children were heard crying for help under the rubble and mechanical diggers tried to rescue the victims while parents desperately looked for their kids,” CBS News tweeted alongside a video of the collapsed structure.
At least 16 students were killed on Friday when a school in Nigeria’s Plateau State collapsed as they were taking exams. Trapped children were heard crying for help under the rubble and mechanical diggers tried to rescue the victims while parents desperately looked for their kids pic.twitter.com/kMvLuAIHMK
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 12, 2024
The video shows a crowd of people around the collapsed school. Parts of the school appeared to still be standing. People in the video were also using equipment like shovels and pickaxes to dig in and around the rubble. Subtitles in the video claim that the cause of the sudden collapse was unknown. Locals say it happened “after three days of heavy rains.”
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Nigeria tweeted that “over 40 trapped students” managed to be rescued from the rubble and hospitalized.
Jos Building Collapse update
A two-storey building collapsed in Jos, leading to a search and rescue operation coordinated by NEMA. Over 40 trapped students were rescued and taken to various hospitals, including Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Plateau Specialist Hospital, pic.twitter.com/ongmQJryCT
— NEMA Nigeria (@nemanigeria) July 12, 2024
“The [search and rescue] operation has now ended, with the site cleared and secured. Some students have been treated and discharged, while 30 remain hospitalized, with 2 in intensive care,” NEMA tweeted.
Jos University Teaching Hospital, and AG Hospital. The operation has now ended, with the site cleared and secured. Some students have been treated and discharged, while 30 remain hospitalized, with 2 in intensive care.
— NEMA Nigeria (@nemanigeria) July 12, 2024
NEMA acknowledged that “some students lost their lives” and did not provide an official figure or estimate.
Unfortunately, some students lost their lives, but the exact number of deaths is still being confirmed.
— NEMA Nigeria (@nemanigeria) July 12, 2024
“I entered the class not more than five minutes, when I heard a sound, and the next thing is I found myself here,” Wulliya Ibrahim, a student who was hospitalized from the ordeal, told AFP. “We are many in the class, we are writing our exams.”
