A storey building housing an Islamic school in Bukuru, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State last night collapsed on pupils.
The incident occurred at Abu Naib Islamic School along Gero road in Bukuru at the time the children were receiving Islamic lectures in the evening.
The Zonal Coordinator, North Central of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Mohammed Abdulsalam, who confirmed the casualty said rescue team of the agency arrived the scene, recovered five bodies, while five people were rescued but with severe injuries.
He added that the injured persons have been taken to Plateau Specialist Hospital in Jos for medical attention.He also said rescue efforts were ongoing and casualty may increase as several other people were still buried in the rubble.
“Five people died: four students and one female teacher. Twenty-four people — 21 girls and three boys — were injured and taken to hospital,” he told AFP.
Two of the children who died were boys and two girls. Their ages were not immediately available, said Abdulsalam.
The cause of the collapse was yet to be identified but Abdulsalam said investigators were looking at whether the addition of extra floors onto the single-storey building was a factor.
Heavy rains earlier in the day saw many children stay away from the school, which caters for pupils aged five to 10, he added.
A resident Imran Labaran, however, said four persons were dead, and five were injured adding that the figure was likely to increase though the Coordinator, Plateau State Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Al-Hassan Barde who confirmed the incident said, “we are concerned about evacuation and safety, no casualty figure yet. “
Alhaji Danlami Muhammad who lives in the community said about 40 children some of whom were less than 10 years old were inside the building when it collapsed. He, however, said the casualty figure cannot be ascertained “because we are still trying to rescue them.”
Muhammad added, “The number could have been more than this but for the rainfall that prevented some of the children from attending.”
He said the School was a secondary school but used on weekends by the children to learn Islamic studies.,
Relevant organizations were on ground to assist in rescuing trapped pupils, and the incident may not have been unconnected with the downpour which took place with heavy breeze for about two hours.
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