The United Nations children's agency has expressed shock following a school building collapse that killed at least 22 students in the central Nigerian city of Jos on Friday.
The Saints Academy college in Busa Buji neighbourhood of the Plateau state capital collapsed shortly after students, many of whom were 15 years old or younger, arrived for their exams.
A total of 154 students were initially trapped in the rubble, but Plateau police spokesperson Alfred Alabo later said 132 of them had been rescued and were being treated for injuries in various hospitals. He said 22 students died.
It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse but residents said it came after three days of heavy rains.
"Devastated by the tragic loss of young lives at Saint Academy," UNICEF Nigeria representative Cristian Munduate wrote on social media platform X.
Grieving families
"Children, full of dreams were writing exams when the school building collapsed. Deepest condolences to families affected,'' the UNICEF official said.
''Urgent action is needed to ensure safety of our children in schools,'' Munduate added.
Building collapses are fairly common in Africa's most populous nation mainly blamed on lax enforcement of construction standards, lack of maintenance and use of low-quality building materials.
Dozens of residents gathered near the school, some weeping and others offering to help, as excavators combed through the debris from the part of the building that had caved in.
One woman was seen wailing and attempting to go closer to the rubble as others held her back.
Blood donation
The victims were taken to at least three hospitals in the city, residents said. Some of the wounded were reportedly in critical conditions.
''The situation is pathetic and tragic,'' an eyewitness, Muhammad Shitu, told TRT Afrika.
''All the bodies I saw were of students. The situation is too terrible. Those who survived have lost excess blood, and people are rushing to donate blood,'' Shitu added.
Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency said rescue and health workers as well as security forces had been deployed at the scene immediately after the collapse, launching a search for the trapped students.
“To ensure prompt medical attention, the government has instructed hospitals to prioritize treatment without documentation or payment,” Plateau state's commissioner for information, Musa Ashoms, said in a statement.
The state government blamed the tragedy on the school’s “weak structure and location near a riverbank." It urged schools facing similar issues to shut down.
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