Four members of the same family have died after a three-storey building collapsed at Popo Giwa, Ilorin, Kwara State, on Tuesday morning.
The building, located at No. 41 Popo Giwa Street, beside Gogoro Mosque, collapsed at about 5 a.m., trapping eight members of the family beneath the rubble.
The Kwara State Fire Service later confirmed that four people were rescued alive while four others were recovered dead from the collapsed structure.
Hassan Adekunle, Public Relations Officer of the Kwara State Fire Service, confirmed the figures while speaking with journalists at the scene.
“We have recovered four people dead and rescued four people alive,” Adekunle said.
He said the agency received a distress call at about 5 a.m. that a building had collapsed with people trapped underneath.
“We immediately mobilised to the scene and commenced rescue operation. This kind of situation is not something the fire service can handle alone,” he said.
Adekunle said officials of the Hospitals Management Board, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and other emergency agencies joined the rescue operation.
He said an assessment would be conducted to determine the cause of the collapse.
“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,” he said.
He added that if the assessment warranted demolition, relevant authorities would take appropriate action, while occupants would be advised accordingly if the remaining structures were found to be safe.
Adekunle commiserated with the families of the victims and urged residents to report unusual signs in buildings or evacuate immediately when they noticed anything that could indicate danger.
An eyewitness, Abdulganiy Musa, said the father of the family was a serving soldier, while the mother worked as a casual staff member at the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies, Ilorin.
A child identified as Firdaus, said to be the second-to-last born of the family, was among those rescued alive.
An excavator was deployed to the scene to assist rescuers in removing the debris and gaining access to the trapped victims.
Representing Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq at the scene, the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Lawal Olohungbebe, described the incident as unfortunate and condoled 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 facilitated 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 the need to maintain access roads to residential areas.
The commissioner commended the Ministries of Health and Environment, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Fire Service, Civil Defence, the Red Cross and other responders for their swift intervention.
The Kwara State Emergency Management Agency also confirmed the death of four people and the rescue of four others.
Magaji Saadudeen, SEMA Secretary, said the eight people trapped in the building were accounted for, adding that the rescued victims and bodies of the deceased had been taken to hospital.
“The rescued persons are receiving treatment presently,” Saadudeen said.
The Commissioner of Police in Kwara, Ojo Adekimi, said the collapsed structure was a three-storey building and that the portion that gave way was the boys’ quarters.
“It was a three-storey building that collapsed. Our findings showed that the boys’ quarter of the building that collapsed. Information gathered revealed that eight people were trapped in the building,” he said.
Adekimi said the rescued victims had been taken to hospital, while the bodies of those who died were evacuated.
“For now, the situation is under control. We will examine the remaining building and see how people can be secured. But for now, we have evacuated everybody from the main building,” he said.
He urged residents to pay attention to warning signs, including leakages and other structural defects.
The Chairman of Ilorin West Local Government Area, AbdulRahman Babatunde Ladan, who monitored the rescue operation, commended emergency agencies and residents for their prompt response.
Ladan said about six to seven ambulances were deployed to the scene to support the evacuation of victims for medical attention.
He urged residents to report structural defects promptly and evacuate buildings whenever they noticed signs of possible collapse.
“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,” he said.
The council chairman also advised prospective developers to use quality materials and engage qualified professionals to supervise construction, stressing that adherence to building standards was essential to preventing structural failures.
