The collapse of a school in northern Nigeria leaves 22 students dead, officials say

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A two-story school collapsed during morning classes Friday in north-central Nigeria, killing 22 students and sending rescuers on a frantic search for more than 100 people trapped in the rubble, authorities said.

The Saints Academy college in Plateau state’s Busa Buji community collapsed shortly after students, many of whom were 15 years old or younger, arrived for classes.

A total of 154 students were initially trapped in the rubble, but Plateau police spokesperson Alfred Alabo later said 132 of them had been rescued and were being treated for injuries in various hospitals. He said 22 students died. An earlier report by local media had said at least 12 people were killed.

Dozens of villagers gathered near the school, some weeping and others offering to help, as excavators combed through the debris from the part of the building that had caved in.

One woman was seen wailing and attempting to go closer to the rubble as others held her back.

Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency said rescue and health workers as well as security forces had been deployed at the scene immediately after the collapse, launching a search for the trapped students.

“To ensure prompt medical attention, the government has instructed hospitals to prioritize treatment without documentation or payment,” Plateau state's commissioner for information, Musa Ashoms, said in a statement.

The state government blamed the tragedy on the school’s “weak structure and location near a riverbank." It urged schools facing similar issues to shut down.

Building collapses are becoming common in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with more than a dozen such incidents recorded in the last two years. Authorities often blame such disasters on a failure to enforce building safety regulations and on poor maintenance.

A student is rescued from the rubble of a collapsed two-storey building in Jos, Nigeria, Friday, July, 12, 2024. At least 12 students have been killed after a school building collapsed and trapped them in northern Nigeria, authorities said on Friday. (AP Photos)

A student is rescued from the rubble of a collapsed two-storey building in Jos, Nigeria, Friday, July, 12, 2024. At least 12 students have been killed after a school building collapsed and trapped them in northern Nigeria, authorities said on Friday. (AP Photos)

A man is rescued from the rubble of a collapsed two-storey building in Jos, Nigeria, Friday, July, 12, 2024. At least 12 students have been killed after a school building collapsed and trapped them in northern Nigeria, authorities said on Friday. (AP Photos)

A student is rescued from the rubble of a collapsed two-storey building in Jos, Nigeria, Friday, July, 12, 2024. At least 12 students have been killed after a school building collapsed and trapped them in northern Nigeria, authorities said on Friday. (AP Photos)

People gather at the scene of a collapsed two-storey building in Jos, Nigeria, Friday, July, 12, 2024. At least 12 students have been killed after a school building collapsed and trapped them in northern Nigeria, authorities said on Friday. (AP Photos)

A student is rescued from the rubble of a collapsed two-storey building in Jos, Nigeria, Friday, July, 12, 2024. At least 12 students have been killed after a school building collapsed and trapped them in northern Nigeria, authorities said on Friday. (AP Photos)

People gather at the scene of a collapsed two-storey building in Jos, Nigeria, Friday, July, 12, 2024. At least 12 students have been killed after a school building collapsed and trapped them in northern Nigeria, authorities said on Friday. (AP Photos)

A student is rescued from the rubble of a collapsed two-storey building in Jos, Nigeria, Friday, July, 12, 2024. At least 12 students have been killed after a school building collapsed and trapped them in northern Nigeria, authorities said on Friday. (AP Photos)

People and rescuers gather at the scene of a collapsed two-storey building in Jos, Nigeria, Friday, July, 12, 2024. At least 12 students have been killed after a school building collapsed and trapped them in northern Nigeria, authorities said on Friday. (AP Photos)

NEW YORK (AP) — A helicopter broke apart in midair and crashed upside-down into the Hudson River between Manhattan and the New Jersey waterfront Thursday, killing six people in the latest high-profile aviation disaster in the U.S., according to witnesses and a law enforcement official.

The New York Fire Department said it received a report of the crash at 3:17 p.m. All six people aboard were killed, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.

Witness Bruce Wall said he saw the helicopter “falling apart” in midair, with the tail and propeller coming off. The propeller was still spinning without the aircraft as it fell, he said.

Lesly Camacho, a hostess at a restaurant along the river in Hoboken, New Jersey, said she saw the helicopter spinning uncontrollably before it slammed into the water.

“There was a bunch of smoke coming out. It was spinning pretty fast, and it landed in the water really hard,” she said in a phone interview.

Video posted to social media showed parts of the chopper splashing into the water, and the overturned aircraft was submerged, with rescue boats circling it.

The skies were overcast at the time, but visibility over the river was not substantially impaired. Rescue crews had to deal with 45-degree water temperatures.

The Federal Aviation Administration identified the helicopter as a Bell 206. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board planned to investigate.

The rescue craft were near the end of a long maintenance pier for a ventilation tower serving the Holland Tunnel on the New Jersey side of the river. Fire trucks and other emergency vehicles were on streets near the scene with their lights flashing.

The skies over Manhattan are routinely filled with both planes and helicopters, both private recreational aircraft and commercial and tourist flights. Manhattan has several helipads that whisk business executives and others to destinations throughout the metropolitan area.

Over the years, there have been multiple crashes, including a collision between a plane and a tourist helicopter over the Hudson River in 2009 that killed nine people and the 2018 crash of a charter helicopter offering “open door” flights that went down into the East River, killing five people.

A medical transport plane killed seven people when it plummeted into a Philadelphia neighborhood in January. That happened two days after an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter collided in midair in Washington — the deadliest U.S. air disaster in a generation.

The crashes and other close calls have left some people worried about the safety of flying.

As seen from Pier 40 in New York, police and fire crews from New York and New Jersey respond to the scene where a helicopter crashed into the Hudson River, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

As seen from Pier 40 in New York, police and fire crews from New York and New Jersey respond to the scene Thursday, April 10, 2025, where a helicopter went down in the Hudson River between Manhattan and the New Jersey waterfront. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

As seen from Pier 40 in New York, police and fire crews from New York and New Jersey respond to the scene Thursday, April 10, 2025, where a helicopter went down in the Hudson River between Manhattan and the New Jersey waterfront. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

First responders from New Jersey and New York respond to the scene where a helicopter crashed in the Hudson River, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

As seen from Pier 40 in New York, police and fire crews from New York and New Jersey respond to the scene Thursday, April 10, 2025, where a helicopter went down in the Hudson River between Manhattan and the New Jersey waterfront. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

First responders walk along Pier 40, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in New York, across from where a helicopter went down in the Hudson River in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Jennifer Peltz)

A New York Fire Department Marine 1 boat departs from Pier 40, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in New York, across from where a helicopter went down in the Hudson River in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Jennifer Peltz)

First responders walk along Pier 40, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in New York, across from where a helicopter went down in the Hudson River in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Jennifer Peltz)