Twelve children and one adult were taken to hospital after a ceiling collapsed at a south London school.
Rosemead Preparatory School and Nursery in Dulwich is a £15,000-a-year independent co-educational day prep school for children aged two-and-a-half to 11.
The ceiling of the south London school collapsed on the second floor on Monday morning, the London Fire Brigade said.
A private school has said it is “working closely with the authorities” to understand what caused a ceiling to collapse in one of its Year 3 classrooms.
A statement from Rosemead Preparatory School said: “This morning in one of our Year 3 classrooms, a ceiling collapsed resulting in the attendance of the emergency services.
“Some injuries were sustained and some of those involved have been taken to hospital, and we are working with our students and families to support them.
“We are working closely with the authorities to understand the cause of the incident and we will provide more information as soon as we can.
“Parents and families can be reassured that the school day is continuing as usual today for the rest of the school.”
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called at 9.24am today (November 15) to reports of an incident at Rosemead Preparatory School, SE21.
“We sent a number of resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, medics in cars, advanced paramedics, incident response officers, emergency planning resilience officers, our hazardous area response team, and a command support vehicle.
“We treated 16 people at the scene, and took 12 children and one adult to hospital.”
Around 20 firefighters and three fire engines were called to the incident on Thurlow Park Road in Dulwich.
A number of people were treated on the scene for minor injuries and some children were taken to hospital by London Ambulance crews.
All other children and staff were safely evacuated from the building.
Firefighters carried out a systematic search of the building and confirmed with the school that all pupils and staff were accounted for.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) was called at 9.22am on Monday and the incident was over by 11.50am.
A specialist USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) team and equipment were also used to confirm the building was “at no further risk of collapse”, a statement from the LFB said.
Labour’s Helen Hayes, the MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, tweeted: “Very concerned to hear of the collapse of a ceiling at Rosemead School this morning.
“My thoughts are with the children, staff and parents. I hope no-one is seriously injured.
“I’ve contacted the school to offer my support. My thanks to the emergency services who attended the scene.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted: “I’m in close contact with the emergency services following a ceiling collapse at a school in south London, and I want to thank them for their swift response.
“A number of people were treated for minor injuries and a number of children taken to hospital by London Ambulance crews.
“I’m relieved to hear that all children and staff are accounted for and I wish everyone affected a full and speedy recovery.”
