A mother and four of her children have died after part of a three-storey building collapsed on them at Popo Giwa, Ilorin, Kwara State.

The incident occurred around 5 a.m. Tuesday at No. 41 Popo Giwa Street, beside Gogoro Mosque, trapping eight members of the same family under the rubble.

The Kwara State Fire Service confirmed that four people were rescued alive while four others were recovered dead.

A rescuer, identified as Abdul, said the mother and her youngest child, aged between five and seven, were found dead beneath 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 him, rescuers later heard the voice of the father, who had gone to perform ablution in the toilet, and managed to dig him out.

He said the father, a serving military officer on medical vacation, survived after a piece of wood from the old structure prevented a large pillar from crushing him.

Abdul added that one of the deceased, the eldest daughter, was a student of Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, and was expected to begin the National Youth Service Corps programme on Thursday.

The Public Relations Officer of the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, said emergency responders received a distress call at about 5 a.m. and immediately mobilised to the scene.

He said an excavator was deployed to clear the rubble and gain access to those trapped.

The Secretary of the Kwara State Emergency Management Agency, Magaji Saadudeen, confirmed that the eight victims were members of the same family. He said survivors were taken to hospital while the bodies of the deceased were evacuated.

The Commissioner of Police, Ojo Adekimi, said preliminary findings indicated that the collapsed section was the boys’ quarters of the three-storey building.

He said occupants of the main building had been evacuated pending a structural assessment.

The Fire Service said the cause of the collapse had not been established, stressing that a proper assessment would be required before determining what caused the incident.

Representing Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Lawal Olohungbebe, described the incident as unfortunate and urged residents and developers to comply with building and town-planning regulations.

The Chairman of Ilorin West Local Government Area, AbdulRahman Babatunde Ladan, said six to seven ambulances were deployed during the rescue operation.

He urged residents to report structural defects promptly and evacuate buildings whenever they notice signs of danger.

Several agencies, including SEMA, NEMA, the Fire Service, NSCDC, the police, the Red Cross and health officials, participated in the rescue operation.