Twenty-two children have died and at least 132 have been injured after a school building collapsed in Nigeria’s central Plateau state, local officials say.
Saint Academy in the state capital Jos caved in while students were in class on Friday morning. Children were left trapped under the debris.
Volunteers used excavators, hammers and their bare hands to break through the piles of concrete and twisted iron rods to reach many of those trapped.
Police told reporters that at least 22 children had died in the collapse, with many more receiving treatment in local hospitals.
The school is believed to have more than 1,000 pupils.
Local resident Abel Fuandai told the BBC that his friend's son had been killed and said "the scale of the tragedy is frightening".
The state government said an investigation is underway and cited the school's "weak structure and unsafe location near a riverbank", advising other schools "with structural concerns" to close immediately.
It also advised hospitals in Jos to prioritize treating the injured, "regardless of documentation or payment".
Source: BBC