By Everson Luhanga
A ceiling collapsed on primary school learners at uThambeka Primary School in Tembisa on Tuesday morning.
Nine children were rushed to the local clinic while six others were taken to Tembisa Hospital.
Of the six taken to hospital, four were discharged after a few hours while two remained for further monitoring.
Officials on the scene told Scrolla.Africa that a helicopter and several ambulances were on standby after the incident was reported.
Learning and teaching were stopped as officials moved the affected children to container classes on the premises.
Parents came running to the school when they heard what had happened.
When the Scrolla.Africa team arrived at the scene, parents of the affected learners were allowed inside but not those whose children had not been affected.
Classrooms for grades 5 to 7 were affected and officials evacuated learners from other classes and allocated them to container classes on the premises for safe lessons as teaching continued.
Officials from the Gauteng Department of Education and the national Department of Education were on the scene.
Scrolla.Africa learnt from a reliable source that there was a recent break-in at the school where criminals climbed onto the roof to get into the classes.
“Although they didn’t steal anything, the ceiling was damaged and shaky,” the source said. “Yesterday’s rain could be the trigger that resulted in the ceiling falling.”
Gauteng Department of Education spokesperson Steve Mabona responded to an enquiry from Scrolla.Africa by saying that Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane is “deeply concerned” about the incident.
“The cause of the incident is uncertain at this stage. As such, we have launched an investigation into circumstances surrounding this incident. Further information will be acquired from the School Management Team (SMT), School Governing Body (SGB) and the District accordingly.
“Our Psycho-Social Support Team will be dispatched to the school to conduct necessary counselling to those affected.
“We … find it unfortunate that our children were injured in such a manner at school. We would like to wish all affected learners a speedy recovery,” said the statement.
Pictured above: The collapsed ceiling.
Image source: Everson Luhanga
