ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A two-story school collapsed Friday during morning classes in north-central Nigeria, trapping about 120 students and teachers and sparking a frantic search for those trapped in the rubble. A local television station reported 12 dead.
Authorities have yet to confirm how many students and teachers were killed at Saints Academy college in Busa Buji community in Plateau state. But Channels Television said 26 people were being treated alongside the dead, citing a witness statement at a nearby hospital.
Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency said rescue workers, health workers and security forces were at the scene. It said “several students” had been killed.
“Around 120 people were trapped, many of whom have been evacuated,” Plateau Commissioner for Information Musa Ashoms said in a statement. “To ensure prompt medical attention, the government has directed hospitals to prioritize treatment without documentation or payment.”
The state government blamed the tragedy on the school’s “weak structure and location on the riverbank” and urged schools facing similar problems to close down.
Dozens of villagers gathered at the school, some crying and others offering help, as excavators combed through the rubble. One woman was seen crying and trying to get closer to the rubble as others held her back.
Building collapses are becoming increasingly 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 a lack of enforcement of building safety regulations and poor maintenance.
