Back Stories » Saigon » Saigon School Forced to Close After Whirlwind Tears Roof off Classrooms

A storm on Saturday tore the roof off Binh Phu High School in District 6 of Saigon, disrupting the class schedules of nearly 2,000 students and requiring extensive repairs. 

Fortunately, no one was injured when a corrugated metal roof covering hundreds of square meters of classroom space flew off the two-story Block B of Binh Phu High School at approximately 6pm on October 31. According to Zing, when the accident happened, 116 teachers and other school employees were in the middle of a meeting in Block C; no students were on campus at the time.

The exposed classrooms and their contained supplies, including 50 computers, were damaged, while the torn-off roof lay in shambles across the courtyard. Adjacent buildings were also littered with debris and water as a result of the whirlwind. 

Photos via Pháp Luật.

Students who attend the school were given November 2 and 3 off from class. From tomorrow, the school will resume classes temporarily on the campus of the Economic College of Ho Chi Minh City in District 10. Although the majority of Binh Phu High School's classrooms were not damaged, authorities decided the construction work needed to repair Block B's roof would make the entire school an unsafe environment, and thus the majority of school activities will remain at the temporary facilities until the end of the 2020–2021 school year.

Transportation costs will be subsidized for students based on the needs of students and their parents. The cost for the transportation and the repair of Binh Phu High School's roof is estimated to be VND3 billion and will come from the city's flood and storm prevention fund. Binh Phu High School was built in 2000, with 36 rooms accommodating nearly 2,000 students across grades 10, 11 and 12. 

[Top photo via Tintuc]

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