By Ighomuaye Lucky. O
Weeping and wailing have taken over the Apata area of Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, as scores of school children are feared killed as a 2-storey school building collapsed on them while classes were still on going.
It was learnt that the students of the school, known as Saint Academy, Busa Buji, in the state, were having their examination when the building fell on them at about 10.30 am.
Both the dead and wounded were taking in ambulances to Bingham University Teaching Hospital (Jankwano).
It was said that scores of students were still buried under the rubble.
One of the teachers in the school, Mr. Daniel, who could not hide his emotion, said amidst tears, that they were in class when suddenly the entire building came down, trapping many students in the process.
Daniel, who said he teaches Christian Religious Studies, said many of those rescued were those on top of the building while those on the ground floor are yet unaccounted for.
“We were just in the class when suddenly the whole building came down on us. We were all confused but I managed to run out through one of the windows.
“My students were shouting and calling on me ‘Uncle, please help me’, but there was nothing I could do. How can I forgive myself that I was not able to help my students at the time they needed me most? Oh my God.
“The ones I suspect will be saved are those on the last floor. We don’t know the fate of those on the ground floor”, Daniel said.
There were wailings by parents and guardians who thronged the hospital to check on the fate of their wards.
A family was said to have lost four children in the unfortunate incident, while a man was seen rolling on the ground as he was yet to know the fate of his two children in the school.
At the time of writing this report, many more are still being brought to the hospital while men of the fire brigade are searching for survivors.