Four members of the same family have been confirmed dead following a three-storey building collapse at Popo Giwa, Ilorin, Kwara State, on Tuesday morning.
The incident occurred around 5am at No. 41 Popo Giwa Street, beside Gogoro Mosque, with eight members of the family initially trapped beneath the rubble.
An eyewitness, Abdulganiy Musa, told The Punch thatvthe 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.
Musa said rescue workers were engaged in efforts to evacuate the victims trapped under the collapsed structure.
A child identified as Firdaus, the second-to-last born of the family, was among those rescued alive from the rubble as emergency responders intensified the operation.
An excavator was later deployed to the scene to assist rescuers in removing the debris and gaining access to the remaining trapped victims.
Representing Governor 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 stressed the importance of accessible roads in residential areas, saying the access route to the building contributed to the ease with which emergency responders were able to reach the scene.
“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 respect 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, SEMA, the National Emergency Management Agency, Fire Service, Civil Defence, the Red Cross and other responders for their swift intervention.
Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.
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