Italy school ceiling collapse leaves three injured

Two children and a teacher were injured when the ceiling of an elementary school collapsed in Ostuni, a town in the southern region of Puglia, local reports said on Monday.

ANSA news agency said the ceiling collapsed when the teacher was teaching a class and the children were sitting at their desks.

"A five-square-meter plaster portion with thickness of three cm suddenly detached from the ceiling ... the block run over the children," the report quoted a firefighter as saying.

Two seven-year-old children were rushed to hospital in "serious though not critical conditions," while their teacher was injured as she tried to help the children hit by debris, Rai State television said.

Local newspaper Il Giornale di Puglia underlined that the school had recently undergone renovation works.

Education Minister Stefania Giannini assured that authorities were "investigating on what happened and why."

Carlo Rienzi, President of consumers association Codacons, explained to Xinhua that the accident highlights the "state of degradation of many Italian schools. Endit