Not fewer than eleven persons died from the Friday’s collapsed two-storey building at Saint Academy Secondary School, Busa Buji in Jos North local government area of Plateau State.
LEADERSHIP’s correspondent at the scene said seven bodies were recovered from the wreckages of the unfortunate incident, while 38 persons were brought to the Plateau State Specialist Hospital (PSSH) where three (3) persons also died.
It was a pathetic scene of crying and wailing by grieving mothers and youths who trooped to the school after the collapse that left many students and teachers trapped at the time the students were writing their third term examination.
Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Hon. Sunday Abdu said the agency immediately mobilised its personnel and relevant agencies to the scene to coordinate rescue efforts.
According to him, personnel of the Jos Metropolitan Development Board (JMDB) and other relevant officials also mobilized to the scene to rescue the trapped victims.
Similarly, the Zonal Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Eugene Nyelong, told newsmen that the number of casualties could only be ascertained on completion of recuse operations.
Victims were rushed to different hospitals by ambulances belonging to various organisations, including the FRSC, NEMA, Red Cross, Army, Police, among others.
Meanwhile, the Plateau Radio Television Corporation (PRTVC) has repeatedly pleaded with spirited individuals to go to the Bingham University Teaching Hospital or any other health facility with the victims to donate blood to save their lives.
LEADERSHIP also gathered that some bodies of the victims were deposited at the Our Lady of Apostles Hospital in Jos, while efforts to speak to the management of these hospitals were unsuccessful at the time of filling this report.
Meanwhile, parents of the wounded and dead students were seen at ECWA Specialist Hospital Jankwanu, Plateau State Specialist Hospital (PSSH) and Ola Hospital, wailing uncontrollably over their dead and injured students while sympathisers, especially women gathered to console them.
However, JMDB’s General Manager, Arc Hart Bankat could not be immediately reached for comment as he was said to have mobilised his men to the scene on rescue operation mission.
