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A mother and four of her children have died after a section of a three-storey building collapsed on their family in the Popo Giwa area of Ilorin, Kwara State.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday at No. 41 Popo Giwa Street, beside Gogoro Mosque, where eight members of the same family were trapped beneath the rubble.
Emergency responders rescued three survivors, including the father, while five victims lost their lives in the tragedy.
The Public Relations Officer of the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, said the agency received a distress call around 5 a.m. and immediately mobilised personnel to the scene.
He confirmed that four victims were initially recovered dead, while four others were rescued alive before one of the rescued victims later died, bringing the death toll to five.
Rescue operations involved the deployment of an excavator and personnel from several emergency agencies to clear the debris and reach those trapped.
A volunteer rescuer, Abdul, described the heartbreaking moment the bodies of the mother and her young child were recovered.
According to him, the mother was found lying on the bed with her child, estimated to be between five and seven years old, still on her chest when rescuers pulled them from the rubble.
He said the father survived because he had gone to perform ablution in the toilet when the building collapsed, adding that a wooden structure prevented a concrete pillar from crushing him.
Abdul disclosed that the survivor is a serving military officer currently on medical leave.
He also revealed that one of the deceased, the family's eldest daughter, was a student of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, who was scheduled to begin the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme on Thursday.
Secretary of the Kwara State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Magaji Saadudeen, confirmed that all eight victims were members of the same family, adding that the injured were taken to hospital while the deceased were evacuated.
Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Ojo Adekimi, said preliminary investigations indicated that the collapsed section was the boys' quarters attached to the three-storey building.
He added that occupants of the main building had been evacuated pending a structural integrity assessment.
The Fire Service said the exact cause of the collapse had yet to be determined, noting that experts would conduct a detailed assessment before any conclusion is reached.
Representing Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Lawal Olohungbebe, sympathised with the bereaved family and described the incident as tragic.
He commended emergency responders for their swift intervention and urged residents and property developers to comply with building and town planning regulations.
Ilorin West Local Government Chairman, AbdulRahman Babatunde Ladan, also advised residents to promptly report structural defects and vacate buildings showing signs of danger to prevent future tragedies.
Personnel from SEMA, NEMA, the Fire Service, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the police, the Red Cross and health agencies participated in the rescue operation.
