Plateau school building: Loud noise made us believe the world was ending, say pupils

Surviving students of the tragic building collapse at Saint Academy in Jos, the Plateau State capital, have narrated how the unfortunate Friday, July 12 incident happened, resulting in the deaths of their classmates and friends.

Some of the students who spoke with our correspondent on Saturday recounted that the building suddenly collapsed while they were having classes, stating that the loud noise which accompanied the collapse felt like the world had come to an end.

The school building collapsed at about 8:30am when the students and teachers were in their classes.

According to the state Commissioner for Information, Musa Ashoms, the death toll from the tragic incident had risen to 22, while 154 persons suffered various degrees of injuries. The commissioner said a thorough investigation into the cause of the collapse was underway.

However, speaking with our correspondent from their hospital beds in Jos on Saturday, some of the surviving students recounted how they were trapped under the rubble for hours.

Some of the survivors, who spoke with our correspondent, included an SS1 student, a JSS1 student, and two SS2 students.

Narrating her experience, an SS1 student said she was in her class with about 43 other students when the two-storey building caved in.

According to her, she was trapped for hours under the rubble and found it difficult to breathe before help eventually reached her.

She said, ‘I am an SS1 student. Our teacher was teaching us in the class, and he was writing on the board when the building suddenly collapsed on our heads. The noise was so loud, and it was as if the world was about to end. Everywhere was dark, and I did not know where I was as the debris covered me. I found it hard to breathing at all because the decking just covered me. Before the building collapsed, I heard one of the students telling a teacher that the building was shaking, but he asked the student to shut up and enter the class. Shortly after sitting down, the building caved in.”

An SS2 student stated that the building collapsed while her classmates were awaiting the arrival of their teacher.

She said, “We were inside the class, and one of our classmates came to tell us that our Government teacher was calling us to join the next class. As we were about to leave, the building went down.”

Narrating how the building collapsed, another SS2 student said, “I was in class with other classmates and the teacher when we suddenly started hearing noises from the building. We didn’t know what the noise was all about. Some of my classmates wanted to run, but they could not. Some people even went under the table. My head was on my table, and suddenly the building caved in. We were under the rubble for hours before we were rescued, while some students died.”

Another student who spoke  said he was under the rubble for many hours before he was discovered by rescuers. “They had to break some of the structures covering me before they could pull me out. About seven of my classmates were also trapped with me. Unfortunately, some of them did not survive,” he said.

One of the parents who simply identified herself as Ada, lamented about the whereabouts of her children.

She said, “Three of my children went to school on that day, and only one returned. I am trying to find them in the hospitals, and begging that the rescue efforts should continue.”

I’m still looking for my son – Mother

Another mother, Amaka Victor, stated that out of her five children, only four went to the school that day.

“One of them, who was in the building, told me that he jumped out through the window as the building was going down. Another of my children fell on the ground with the collapsed building and was shouting and crying before he eventually got help.

“However, up till now, we have not seen him. I am praying to God to allow me see my son. But, my pain is that those who were making efforts to rescue more survivors were stopped by security operatives who barricaded the place. They should allow them to continue; perhaps, they could rescue my son. We have gone to the mortuary and the hospital to check, but we haven’t seen him.”

Another mother who identified herself as Samuel Dat stated that her child was buried for two-and-a-half hours, though she eventually survived.

Plateau closes school, declares three-day mourning

Meanwhile, the Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, has ordered the closure of the collapsed school. The state’s Commissioner for Information disclosed this in a statement on Saturday. The commissioner added that the governor also ordered the arrest of artisanal miners operating around residential areas in the state. He stated that Mutfwang commiserated with the families of the deceased children, and promised that the state government would bear the cost of treating the injured students.

Ashoms added that the state government had declared a three-day mourning period following the sad incident.

FG orders investigation

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, has called for an immediate investigation into the building collapse. Dangiwa made the call on Saturday in Abuja, while directing the Plateau State Controller of the ministry to spearhead a comprehensive investigation to ascertain the cause of the collapse, and bring to justice anyone found culpable.