Twenty-two
children
have
died
and
more
than
130
have
been
injured
after
a
school
building
collapsed
in
Nigeria’s
central
Plateau
state,
local
officials
say.
Saint
Academy
in
the
state
capital
Jos
caved
in
while
students
were
in
class
on
Friday
morning.
Children
were
left
trapped
under
the
debris.
Volunteers
used
excavators,
hammers
and
their
bare
hands
to
break
through
the
piles
of
concrete
and
twisted
iron
rods
to
reach
many
of
those
trapped.
Police
told
reporters
that
at
least
22
children
had
died
in
the
collapse,
with
many
more
receiving
treatment
in
local
hospitals.
The
school
is
believed
to
have
more
than
1,000
pupils.
Local
resident
Abel
Fuandai
told
the
BBC
that
his
friend’s
son
had
been
killed
and
said
“the
scale
of
the
tragedy
is
frightening”.
The
cause
of
the
collapse
is
not
known
but
residents
said
it
came
after
three
days
of
heavy
rains
in
Plateau.
Speaking
from
hospital,
injured
student
Wulliya
Ibrahim
told
AFP:
“I
entered
the
class
not
more
than
five
minutes,
when
I
heard
a
sound,
and
the
next
thing
is
I
found
myself
here.
“We
are
many
in
the
class,
we
are
writing
our
exams,”
he
said.
Resident
Chika
Obioha
said
he
had
seen
a
number
of
dead
bodies
and
that
dozens
of
people
had
been
rescued.
“Everyone
is
helping
out
to
see
if
we
can
rescue
more
people,”
he
said.
“Devastated
by
the
tragic
loss
of
young
lives
at
Saint
Academy,”
Unicef
Nigeria
representative
Cristian
Munduate
wrote
on
X.
“Children
full
of
dreams
were
writing
exams
when
the
school
building
collapsed.
Deepest
condolences
to
families
affected.”
There
have
been
several
major
building
collapses
in
Nigeria
in
recent
years,
with
observers
blaming
a
mix
of
bad
workmanship,
poor
quality
materials
and
corruption.
In
2021,
at
least
45
people
were
killed
when
a
high-rise
building
under
construction
collapsed
in
a
wealthy
Lagos
neighbourhood.
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