Four Killed In School Building Collapses In Cross River
Gov. Ben Shade of Cross Rivers state
A building housing several classrooms at Diamond Grammar College, Ikang under Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State, has collapsed, killing four students in the process.
The tragedy, according to findings by SaharaReporters, occurred on Friday afternoon as students were taking an examination in the school.
The incident, it was further gathered, happened while it was raining heavily that fateful afternoon.
While two of the victims died on the spot, the others succumbed to injuries sustained at a hospital on Monday morning.
The incident has not only thrown the entire community into a confused state but also left many families in pain and distress.
“I saw dead bodies of students being moved out of the school immediately after the building collapsed.
“It was a very horrible sight on Friday; everywhere was in chaos as a result of the incident.
“The heavy rain compounded the whole problem as it made the evacuation of students trapped in the collapsed building quite difficult for rescuers,” an eyewitness living close to the school told SaharaReporters.
Revealing that the incident has thrown several families in the town into distress, another resident of the community, Joshua Nnoji, said only a little help has come to families whose children were affected by the tragedy since Friday.
“It is individual and community efforts that have been helping affected families manage the situation since Friday when the building collapsed.
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“Government should help the families as the burden is too much on them,” he said.
Confirming the incident, Commissioner for Quality Education in Cross River State, Mr Godwin Amanke, told SaharaReporters on Monday that they were working closely with the owner of the school to ensure such tragedy does not reoccur.
He said, “It is unfortunate that the two other students who were injured and receiving treatment at the hospital died this morning, bringing the number of deaths to four.
“We are scaling up our standards and requirements and private schools that do not meet up with this will not be allowed to operate anymore.
“We maintain a high standard of safety in our public schools across the state and private schools that wish to operate here must keep to that standard.”