World Tour: School collapses on students in Nigeria

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour with our reporter in Africa, Onize Ohikere.

AUDIO: [Sound of ambulance]

Nigerian school collapse — We start today’s roundup at the rubble of a collapsed school building in central Nigeria.

Authorities said at least 22 people died when the two-story Saints Academy school building in central Plateau state collapsed. More than 130 other people were injured.

The incident happened shortly after the students, who were taking their exams, arrived at school on Friday.

Ruth Habila works as a teacher at the school. She first saw a crack in the wall of her classroom that day.

HABILA: I cautioned the students, what happened, you people noticed this and you did not even report it to the school management, they say they are not aware of it, they are just seeing it now. So, before we realize, the building just collapsed.

State authorities blamed the weak building structure and its proximity to a riverbank for the collapse.

Caleb Mutfwang is the Plateau state governor.

MUTFWANG: Everybody must be responsible for human life. We cannot afford this kind of mishap again, and we have to go back and begin to look at how many of those schools, including even public schools. We are not going to spare anyone.

State officials asked hospitals to treat people injured in the collapse even if they couldn’t pay.

AUDIO: [Sound of ongoing rescue]

Nepal flooding — Over in Nepal, rescuers recovered the bodies of 11 people after a deadly landslide in the central Chitwan district.

The landslide on Friday forced two buses over concrete barriers on a highway and into a steep embankment. Some 50 passengers were inside the buses.

Indra Dev Yadav is the chief district officer in Chitwan.

YADAV: [Speaking Nepali]

He says here that the rescue teams employed metal hooks and underwater and aerial drones in their search operation.

Road travel is more dangerous during the annual monsoon season when heavy rainfall triggers landslides and flooding.

AUDIO: [Protesters]

Ecuador hearing — And in Ecuador, a court in the capital city of Quito has dished out decadeslong sentences to two people over last year’s assassination of a presidential candidate.

Motorcycle-riding gunmen killed Fernando Villavicencio last August after a campaign rally in Quito.

The man and woman convicted of instigating the murder received 34 years and eight months in prison. They must also pay $100,000 each to the politician’s family.

Three other accomplices received 12-year sentences after they were convicted of telling the killers about the victim’s movements.

Alexandra Villavicencio is the victim’s sister.

VILLAVICENCIO: [Speaking Spanish]

She says here that she hopes her brother will continue to get justice.

AUDIO: [Workers on site]

Iraq mass graves — We wrap up in Iraq where authorities are uncovering the remains of victims of the Islamic State terror group from mass graves.

Authorities have found the remains of 139 people in the Alo Antar hole—some 40 miles west of the city of Mosul.

Ahmed al-Assadi works at the Foundation of Martyrs, a government agency tasked with identifying the war victims.

AL-ASSADI: [Speaking Arabic]

He says here that testimonies confirm the victims include Yazidis, Turkmen, and Mosul security officers.

Authorities discovered the mass grave after Iraqi forces reclaimed control of the area in 2017.

They also believe a much larger sinkhole in northern Iraq also contains more victims.

That’s it for today’s WORLD Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

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