Jos School Building Collapse: 79 out of 132 Hospitalized victims Discharged

Seventy Nine (79) out of the initial hospitalized 132 students of the collapsed Two Story Saints Academy School Building in Jos, the Plateau State capital have been discharged.

This was revealed by the Chief Medical Directors of Plateau State Specialist Hospital, Bingham University Teaching Hospital Jos, and Our Lady of Apostle Hospital, (OLA) during visit by the Plateau State House of Assembly, led by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Gabriel Dewan on Saturday.

Giving the breakdown, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Plateau State Specialist Hospital, Prof. Christopher Yilgwan said out of the 43 victims that were brought to the hospital, they identified 3 with spinal cord injury and were referred to Jos University Teaching Hospital, (JUTH), after Magnetic Resonance Imaging were conducted.

He added that they discovered 5 with major injuries which they are still managing, while the remaining 35 with minor injuries that can be manage at home were discharged but will still be coming for check-up.

At Bingham University Teaching Hospital Jos, the CMD, Prof. Stephen Anzaku who took the Speaker and his team round the wards, said 61 students were brought to the hospital yesterday, 18 were discharged same day while 20 were discharged today with only few on admission.

The CMD added that the 14 corpses that were brought to the facility yesterday, 5 have been taken for burial by their families.

At Our Lady of Apostle, (OLA) Hospital, 32 victims were rushed yesterday with 5 dead, 27 on admission out of which 6 have been discharged bringing the total of discharged victims to 79 in all.

The Speaker, Rt. Hon. Gabriel Dewan who cut short his official national engagement in Lagos to sympathize with families of the victims, appreciated the State Governor, Barr. Caleb Mutfwang for taking the responsibility of footing the medical bills of the victims.

He promised that as legislature, they will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that careful investigation is made to ascentain the cause of the collapsed building. He said they will also work in collaboration with the Jos Metropolitan Development Board (JMDB) to make laws that will avert a repeat of such ugly incident in the state.

The Speaker and his team had earlier visited scene of the collapsed building for an on the spot assessment, where they interacted with officials of the Nigeria Builders and Research Institute, (NBRRI), on the possible cause of the collapse.

The North Central zonal Coordinator of NBRRI, Terver Tyosar with others who are working tirelessly on the site, noted that though they observed that poor materials were used in the building, and doubted if a professional was involved during the building.

He opined that only scientific investigation can bring their observation to conclusion. Adding that they have started collecting the soil sample to subject it to laboratory investigation to establish the exact cause of the building collapse.

The NBRRI also discovered that the foundation of the building was not meant for a story building, but suspected that it was later changed possible due to population of students.

Light Bearer Newspaper observed during the visit that the remaining portion of the building has already been pulled down completely with the rescue team, comprising of security agencies, Red Cross, the Nigeria Builders and Road Research Institute, (MBRRI) Jos Metropolitan Development Board (JMDB) still on site.