The management of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi has shut down the institution following the death of four students in a bridge collapse.
ATBU Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abdulazeez Ahmed, announced the closure of the school on Tuesday in a press briefing.
The incident occurred Monday night at Gubi Campus of the university with four students killed and eight others injured.
The collapsed bridge linked one of the hostels and another building containing lecture rooms.
It collapsed at midnight during a heavy downpour as students were returning to their hostels after night study for their on-going 1st-semester examination.
The VC said the closure was to honour the victims, adding that the university would reopen on August 19.
“The students were trying to return to their hostels in the midst of the rain last night when the connecting bridge between their reading area and their hostels collapsed and the students drowned.
“While the full details of the occurrence are being awaited, others who were injured in the incident are currently receiving treatment in the university medical centre,” he said.
Ahmed added that the missing persons were yet to be ascertained, but confirmed that some students’ identity cards were recovered within the campus.
He said that firefighters and other security operatives have been drafted to the campus on search and rescue operation.
