The Collapse of a School in Northern Nigeria Leaves 22 Students Dead

Bystanders gather next to the ruins of a school collapsed earlier in Jos, on July 12, 2024 as heavy machinery is seen at work on the site. (AFP)
Bystanders gather next to the ruins of a school collapsed earlier in Jos, on July 12, 2024 as heavy machinery is seen at work on the site. (AFP)
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The Collapse of a School in Northern Nigeria Leaves 22 Students Dead

Bystanders gather next to the ruins of a school collapsed earlier in Jos, on July 12, 2024 as heavy machinery is seen at work on the site. (AFP)
Bystanders gather next to the ruins of a school collapsed earlier in Jos, on July 12, 2024 as heavy machinery is seen at work on the site. (AFP)

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 years old or younger, arrived for classes, The Associated Press said.
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. An earlier report by local media had said at least 12 people were killed.
Dozens of villagers 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.
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.
Building collapses are becoming common in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with more than a dozen such incidents recorded in the last two years. Authorities often blame such disasters on a failure to enforce building safety regulations and on poor maintenance.



Landslides and Flash Floods on Indonesia’s Java Island Leave 17 Dead and 8 Missing 

In this photo released by Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), rescuers carry the body of a victim of flash flood in Pekalongan, Central Java, Indonesia on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (BNPB via AP) 
In this photo released by Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), rescuers carry the body of a victim of flash flood in Pekalongan, Central Java, Indonesia on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (BNPB via AP) 
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Landslides and Flash Floods on Indonesia’s Java Island Leave 17 Dead and 8 Missing 

In this photo released by Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), rescuers carry the body of a victim of flash flood in Pekalongan, Central Java, Indonesia on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (BNPB via AP) 
In this photo released by Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), rescuers carry the body of a victim of flash flood in Pekalongan, Central Java, Indonesia on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (BNPB via AP) 

Indonesian rescuers recovered the bodies of at least 17 people who were swept away in flash floods or buried under tons of mud and rocks that hit hilly villages on the country’s main island of Java, officials said Tuesday. Eight people were missing.

Torrential rains on Monday caused rivers to burst their banks, tearing through nine villages in Pekalongan regency of Central Java province, as mud, rocks and trees tumbled down on mountainside hamlets, said Bergas Catursasi, who heads the local Disaster Management Agency.

He said rescue workers by Tuesday had pulled out at least 17 bodies in the worst-hit village of Petungkriyono, and rescuers are searching for eight villagers who are reportedly still missing. Eleven injured people managed to escape and were rushed to nearby hospitals, Catursari said.

Television reports on Tuesday showed police, soldiers and rescue workers used excavators, farm equipment and their bare hands to sift through the rubble looking for the dead and missing in devastated villages, while others carried victims on bamboo stretchers or body bags to ambulances or trucks.

“Bad weather, mudslides and rugged terrain hampered the rescue operation,” Catursari said, adding that people who were fishing in the river and those who were taking shelter from the rain were swept away by flash floods.

National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said flash floods swept away villagers and vehicles passing through devastated villages and triggered a landslide that buried two houses. The disaster also destroyed two main bridges connecting villages in Pekalongan district.

Seasonal rain from about October to March frequently causes flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile floodplains.

Last month, a landslide, flash floods and strong winds hit the Sukabumi district of West Java province, killing 12 people. In November a landslide and flash floods triggered by heavy downpours hit Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, leaving 20 dead and two missing. A landslide in the region also hit a tourist bus that killed nine people.