Tunisia school wall collapse kills 3 students, sparks protests and nationwide strike over neglect.

A tragic incident occurred at a school in Tunisia on Monday when a wall collapsed, resulting in the deaths of three high school students and leaving two others seriously injured, according to the civil defence rescue agency.

"The collapse of a dilapidated wall today led to the death of three students, aged between 18 and 19," said Moez Triaa, spokesperson for the civil defence agency, in a statement to AFP. The two students who were injured in the collapse were transported to a hospital for medical treatment, though no additional details were immediately available.

The incident ignited widespread public outrage. Videos circulating on social media showed local residents gathering and staging protests near the scene shortly after the collapse took place, expressing anger over what many described as a preventable tragedy.

In response to the incident, Tunisia’s influential UGTT labour union federation issued a call for a nationwide school strike. The union criticized the government, accusing it of failing to take meaningful action to safeguard the country’s public schools.

In its statement, the UGTT described the collapse as a "painful tragedy" and placed blame on official negligence. It argued that the government has neglected basic maintenance of educational infrastructure, allowing public school facilities to fall into dangerous disrepair.

The incident took place in Sidi Bouzid, a central region in Tunisia known as the birthplace of the 2011 revolution that led to the overthrow of former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. That uprising helped ignite the broader Arab Spring movement across the region.

For years, residents in Tunisia’s interior regions have voiced frustration over poor socioeconomic conditions and a chronic lack of infrastructure, issues that many say remain unaddressed to this day.