By Dyepkazah Shibayan | Associated Press
ABUJA, Nigeria — A two-story school collapsed during morning classes Friday in north-central Nigeria, trapping about 120 students and teachers, and setting off a frantic search for those in the rubble. A local television station reported 12 deaths.
Authorities are yet to confirm the number of students and teachers killed in Saints Academy college in Plateau state’s Busa Buji community. But Channels Television said 26 people were being treated along with the deaths, citing a witness account at a nearby hospital.
Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency said rescue and health workers as well as security forces have been deployed at the scene. It said that “several students” had been killed.
“Approximately 120 people were trapped, with many evacuated,” Plateau Commissioner for Information Musa Ashoms said in a statement. “To ensure prompt medical attention, the government has instructed hospitals to prioritize treatment without documentation or payment.”
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 last two years. Authorities often blame such disasters on a failure to enforce building safety regulations and on poor maintenance.