Pupils speak of duct collapse panic

The children spoke of chaotic scenes as staff and pupils fled Minster College on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.

Four teenagers suffered serious neck, head or back injuries and a total of 11 children were taken to Medway Hospital after the accident.

Others were treated at the scene and none of the pupils is in a life-threatening condition.

The Year 9 pupils were in a sports hall at the school, in Minster Road, when the accident happened shortly after 9am on Tuesday.

Sam Millen, 13, was in the room when the duct collapsed and saw a boy crushed under a piece of metal.

He said: "It looked like one boy at the front was crushed under a piece of metal and everyone started panicking and screaming."

Sam said the whole structure came down in about "five to 10 seconds".

He said pupils, who were sitting an exam in Preparation for Working Life, were told to leave the room by invigilators who were overseeing the test.

"It was extremely frightening," he added. "It all happened so quickly, no one knew what was going on."