PRETORIA, July 12. /TASS/. Sixteen schoolchildren died after the building of a school partially collapsed during classes in central Nigeria, AFP reported.
According to the agency, the bodies have been retrieved from under the rubble and taken to a local hospital.
According to Channels, a local television channel, forty children were rescued. However, up to 70 more schoolchildren and teachers may still be under the debris of the two-storey building. Rescue operations continue.
The accident occurred in the city of Jos, Plateau State. Elementary school children were writing test papers.
The causes of the accident have not yet been identified but locals say that the collapse might have been caused by a landslide after three days of heavy rains.