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At least 22 children killed after school building collapses during class

A two-storey school has collapsed in Nigeria, killing 22 pupils and burying dozens more.

The Saints Academy college in the community of Busa Buji collapsed shortly after pupils, many of whom were 15 years old or younger, arrived for classes in the morning.

A total of 154 pupils were trapped with 132 rescued and treated for injuries in various hospitals, police spokesman Alfred Alabo said. 

Twenty-two pupils were killed, with rescue and health workers as well as security forces deployed at the scene, according to Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency.

State commissioner for information, Musa Ashoms, said: ‘To ensure prompt medical attention, the government has instructed hospitals to prioritise treatment without documentation or payment.’

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The state government blamed the tragedy on the school’s ‘weak structure and location near a riverbank’. 

People gathered to see if any survivors were found (Picture: AP)© Provided by Metro

 

The students were all under the age of 15 (Picture: AP)© Provided by Metro

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.

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.

In 2019, a three-storey building collapsed in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, trapping dozens of children inside.

Hundreds of people stood in narrow streets and on rooftops of rusted, corrugated metal as a yellow excavator scooped at the ruins.