ABUJA, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- A flood disaster hitting a university in northeastern Nigeria has drowned four students, the school management said on Tuesday.
Several students are still unaccounted for while seven others were injured following the incident late Monday at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Gubi town of the northeastern state of Bauchi, the university's vice-chancellor, Muhammed Abdulaziz told a press conference.
According to Abdulaziz, the management announced immediate closure of the university after the incident to honor the victims of the disaster. The school would reopen on Aug. 19, he said.
A heavy downpour on Monday had caused the serious flooding which led to the collapse of the bridge linking the students' hostels within the campus.
"The students were trying to return to their hostels in the midst of the rain last (Monday) night when the connecting bridge between their reading area and their hostels collapsed and the students drowned," Abdulaziz said.
Local sources told Xinhua that dozens of students were crossing the makeshift pedestrian bridge when it collapsed due to the flooding. Some students' identification cards were recovered within the campus after the incident.
State police spokesman Kamal Datti Abubakar told Xinhua via telephone that an investigation has been launched into the incident.
