A two-story school collapsed during morning classes Friday in north-central Nigeria, killing 22 students and sending rescuers on a frantic search for more than 100 people trapped in the rubble, authorities said. The Saints Academy college in Plateau state's Busa Buji community collapsed shortly after students, many of whom were 15 or younger, arrived for classes. A total of 154 students initially were 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 hospitals, the AP reports.
Dozens of villagers gathered near the school, some weeping and others offering to help, as excavators combed through the debris. Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency said rescue and health workers as well as security forces had been deployed 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," a state official said in a statement.
The state government blamed the collapse on the school's "weak structure and location near a riverbank." It urged schools facing similar issues to shut down. Building collapses are becoming common in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, with more than a dozen recorded in the past two years, per the AP. Authorities often blame such disasters on a failure to enforce building safety regulations and on poor maintenance.
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