TRUE: A wall has collapsed at Precious Talent School in Ng’ando, with several casualties reported
A Facebook post claiming that a wall at Precious Talent School in Ng’ando area along Ngong Road collapsed causing death and injuries to pupils is TRUE.
According to the post, the incident happened on the morning of September 23, 2019 as students were preparing to start the school day, and dozens of pupils had been trapped in the building.
Speaking at the scene of the incident, Dagoretti OCPD George Seda indicated that the collapse could have been due to the building materials used for the classrooms, adding that the quick response of the public which prevented the situation from worsening.
A press statement by Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha confirmed that there were seven fatalities, and 64 pupils were receiving treatment at Kenyatta National Hospital. Two of those receiving treatment are in critical condition, while 62 had soft tissue injuries. The statement further added that more than 600 learners undergone safety checks at St. Mary’s Catholic Centre.
According to CS Magoha, the collapse will be investigated by his ministry, and a team has been set up to investigate the matter. In the meantime, Precious Talent Primary School learners have been asked to stay at home for the next four days as the Ministry and other stakeholders work to ensure their safety.
The cost of treatment for the injured pupils will be covered by the state, as was confirmed by Government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna.
PesaCheck has looked into the claim that a wall at Precious Talent School collapsed in Ng’ando area causing deaths and injuries to pupils finds it to be TRUE.
This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.
By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds.
Have you spotted what you think is fake news or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content.
This fact-check was written by PesaCheck researcher Diana Kendi was edited by PesaCheck Deputy Editor Ann Ngengere and was approved for publication by PesaCheck Managing Editor Eric Mugendi.
PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water / sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org.
PesaCheck is a joint initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with additional funding support from the International Budget Partnership (Kenya) and Twaweza, in partnership with a coalition of local media organisations, and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ).