Jos Islamic School Collapse: "7 children dead, 7 trapped, 4 severely injured"
About seven Nigerian children are believed to have died after a building in which they were receiving Koranic lessons collapsed on Sunday evening.
The tragedy occurred after heavy rains and strong winds at the Bukuru area of Jos, Plateau State.
The children were pupils of Abu Naib (Some say it is called Abuna’ima or Abu Naima) Islamic School in the area.
The school building, where children believed to be between the ages of 7 and 13 receive Islamic lectures, caved in at about 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Details of the accident are still sketchy.
Zonal Coordinator, North Central of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mohammed Abdulsalam, reportedly confirmed the unfortunate incident.
He said, according to reports, seven bodies were retrieved from the rubble, all of them children.
He added that five people were rescued from the site, reports say.
The rescued victims, who are now receiving treatment in hospital, were severely injured raising fears the death toll could rise.
Rescuers also fear more dead bodies could be recovered from the rubble inside which seven other people, at least, are believed trapped.
About 30 pupils were thought to be inside the building when it caved in after stormy weather.
Eyewitnesses said the casualty could have been higher had the two-hour long showers not barred many pupils from showing up on Sunday evening.
“On a normal day, there are usually about 150 pupils inside the school,” a resident of the area said.
