ABUJA, July 14, (Xinhua/GNA) — At least 22 people were killed and 132 others injured on Friday, after a two-story school building collapsed in Nigeria’s north-central Plateau state, authorities said.
The building at the privately-owned Saint Academy, a primary and secondary school in Jos, the capital city of Plateau state, collapsed when students were writing a promotional examination Friday morning.
The building housed several classrooms and offices. A total of 154 people were brought out of the debris by rescuers as of Friday evening, including 22 lifeless bodies and 132 people, out of which six were in critical condition, Musa Ashoms, the commissioner for information and communication in Plateau state, said in a statement sent to Xinhua.
Plateau Governor Caleb Mutfwang, described the incident “as a tragic and a monumental loss to the state”, while urging emergency responders to comb the debris to rescue more victims.
In a separate statement, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said the “devastating development” was too excruciating to imagine.
GNA