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Update: 17 students dead, scores hospitalised in Plateau school building collapse
Scene of the collapsed building
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By Kazeem Ugbodaga
At least 17 students have been confirmed dead and scores of others hospitalised as a two-storey school building collapsed in Plateau State on Friday.
The Saint Academy building located in the Busa Buji community, Plateau State had collapsed around 8:30am with about 120 students reportedly trapped.
According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the two-storey building collapsed in Jos, leading to a search and rescue operation, with over 40 trapped students rescued and taken to various hospitals, including Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Plateau Specialist Hospital, 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 two in intensive care.
“Unfortunately, some students lost their lives, but the exact number of deaths is still being confirmed,” NEMA said.
But the state Commissioner for Information, Musa Ashoms, said in a statement on Friday that 120 people were trapped under the rubbles.
He said the Plateau State Government expressed deep sadness over the tragic incident at Saint Academy Jos, where a building collapsed resulting in casualties and injured students and teachers still being evacuated to different hospitals within Jos.
Ashoms said the government described the incident as an avoidable tragedy, citing the school’s weak structure and unsafe location near a riverbank.
“However, we commend the efforts of NEMA, SEMA, Red Cross and security agencies in rescuing trapped children and transporting them to hospitals,” he said.
However, the Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency, Sunday Àbdu, told The Punch that 17 people had died as a result of the collapse.
According to him, the fact remained that the casualty figures kept changing, disclosing that in Bingham University Teaching Hospital Jos, there were 13 bodies and 43 people receiving medical attention.
He added that in OLA Specialist Hospital, there were over 40 people receiving attention, while in Plateau Specialists Hospital, there were four bodies with 40 people receiving treatment.
Abdu said there were also some casualties who were evacuated to the Jos University Teaching Hospital but said he did not have the figure at the moment.
