Student dead, 13 injured in school wall collapse

AMMAN — A student, whose age was not identified, died on Thursday and 13 others were injured at a private school located east of Amman when a wall collapsed on them, according to the Civil Defence Department (CDD). 

The department was notified of the incident in the afternoon and its personnel rushed to the scene, a CDD source told The Jordan Times over the phone.

He noted that the students were standing near the wall of Al Qamar Islamic School in the Qweismeh area in Amman when it collapsed.

The injured were reported to be in stable condition, according to the source.

Education Ministry Spokesperson Walid Jallad said the ministry formed a team to investigate the issue upon instructions from Education Minister Mohammad Thneibat.

“The wall collapsed while machinery was carrying out construction work within the school’s premises,” he told The Jordan Times.

Jallad noted that the team comprises heads of the ministry’s private education, legal affairs and building departments.

Thneibat tasked the team with examining the precautionary measures taken by the school’s administration prior to the construction work, according to the spokesperson.

In a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Amman Governor Khaled Abu Zeid said the man operating the machinery and the school principal were detained for questioning.

Also on Thursday, Health Minister Ali Hiasat paid a visit to the injured students at Al Bashir Hospital and checked on their situation.

He met with their parents and listened to the details of the incident, according to Petra.

Last year, a seven-year-old student drowned in a private school pool whole swimming with her peers, prompting the ministry to terminate the services of the school principal, who, along with other people from the school, were referred to court.