A mother and four of her children have died after a section of a three storey building collapsed on them at Popo Giwa, Ilorin, Kwara State, yesterday morning.
The tragedy occurred at No. 41 Popo Giwa Street, beside Gogoro Mosque, where eight members of the family were trapped beneath the rubble, reports Daily Trust.
Three people, including the father, were rescued as emergency responders worked to reach those trapped in the collapsed section.
The Public Relations Officer of the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, confirmed that four people were recovered dead while four others were rescued alive.
“We have recovered four people dead and rescued four people,” he said.
Adekunle said the Fire Service received a distress call at about 5 a.m. and immediately mobilised to the scene to commence the rescue operation.
“We immediately mobilised to the scene and commenced the rescue operation. This kind of situation is not something the fire service can handle alone,” he said.
An excavator was deployed while rescuers cleared the rubble and worked to gain access to those trapped.
A child identified as Firdaus, the second to last born of the family, was among those rescued.
When our correspondent visited the scene, residents were still mourning and consoling the victims’ family.
An individual involved in the rescue operation, who identified himself simply as Abdul, said the incident happened around 5 a.m. when the occupants were just waking up.
He said rescuers initially brought out the mother and her last child, aged about five to seven years, dead from the rubble.
“We brought out the mother with her last child of about 5-7 years on her chest dead; the building collapsed on the bed they slept,” he said.
According to Abdul, rescuers later heard the voice of the father, who had gone to perform ablution in the toilet, and began digging to reach him.
“That was his saving grace and it was only the wood that was part of the old building that prevented a big pillar from smashing him. We had to dig to pull him out,” he said.
Abdul said the father was a serving military officer who was on medical vacation.
He also said one of the deceased who is the eldest daughter was a student of Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, who was expected to commence her youth service on Thursday.
The SEMA Secretary, Magaji Saadudeen, said the eight trapped persons were members of the same family, adding that the survivors were taken to hospital for treatment while the bodies of the deceased were evacuated.
The Commissioner of Police, Ojo Adekimi, said preliminary findings indicated that the collapsed portion was the boys’ quarters.
“It was a three-storey building that collapsed. Our findings showed that it was the boys’ quarter of the building that collapsed. Information gathered revealed that eight people were trapped in the building,” he said.
Adekimi said occupants of the main building were subsequently evacuated pending an assessment of its structural condition.
“For now, the situation is under control. We will examine the remaining buildings and see how people can be secured. But for now, we have evacuated everybody from the main building,” he said.
The Fire Service said the cause of the collapse had not yet been established, noting that proper assessment would be required before any conclusion could be reached.
“We are only here to ascertain the actual cause of this collapse and rescue the trapped victims. As at when due, we will communicate to the media about our findings,” Adekunle said.
He said appropriate action would be taken if the assessment showed that the building required demolition, while occupants would be advised accordingly if it was found to be safe.
Representing Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq at the scene, the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Lawal Olohungbebe, described the incident as unfortunate and commiserated with the victims’ families.
“The rescue mission began immediately after the collapse and to the Grace of God, some were rescued but unfortunately, we have to take it as this,” he said.
Olohungbebe said the accessibility of the road leading to the building helped emergency responders reach the scene and carry out the rescue operation.
“One of the things that made it very easy for us to rescue the few people we were able to rescue is the access route,” he said.
He urged residents and developers to comply with building and town planning regulations, particularly provisions requiring accessible roads to residential areas.
The Ilorin West Local Government Chairman, AbdulRahman Babatunde Ladan, said between six and seven ambulances were deployed to assist in evacuating victims.
He urged residents to report structural defects promptly and leave buildings whenever they observed signs that could indicate danger.
“Whenever you discover something like this, please escalate it. Get to the point of evacuating yourself and your family members from that building. Life is the priority,” Ladan said.
Several emergency and security agencies, including SEMA, NEMA, the Fire Service, NSCDC, the police, the Red Cross and health officials, participated in the rescue operation.
