By Seyi Odewale
A building located on Ibrahim Taiwo Road in the Beirut area of the Kano metropolis, Kano State, yesterday collapsed, leaving several people trapped. The uncompleted building, being used by mobile phone sellers and other accessories, was said to have collapsed around 3.40 pm.
A source, who preferred anonymity, said it may be due to the endless rain that has been falling for about three days.
According to a witness, some of those inside the building when it caved in could not be rescued because there was no available equipment.
The voice of one of those trapped could be heard when he was called on his mobile phone. “We just called his number, and he is picking calls. Only that there is no way for him to escape,” one of the witnesses said.
Meanwhile, a member of the rescue team, who got to the scene early, said an excavator was on its way to the scene to boost efforts to rescue all the trapped victims.
Shortly afterwards, two more people were rescued from the building bringing the number of rescued to three. They were immediately rushed to a hospital.
One of the volunteers, who participated in the rescue operation, said many people including women and children are still in the building.
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“Some little girls selling eggs, women selling food are all trapped inside. We had to dig a hole to bring the three victims out. The remaining are inside, we can hear their sounds, but we couldn’t locate them,” he said.
He added that when they noticed that the building had developed some cracks, they alerted the builders, who reportedly assured them that nothing would happen.
“Even the equipment they are bringing cannot do anything. We have alerted them (the builders) since and this is the second time, but nothing was done,” he added.
Meanwhile, seven persons have so far been rescued from the collapsed building. Many others are still trapped in the rubble, according to the spokesman of the Kano State Fire Service, Alhaji Saminu Abdullahi.
“We received a distress call about the collapse at about 3.30 p.m. and sent our rescue team to the three-storey building under construction, but used for the business of selling cell phones,’’ he said.
Abdullahi said those rescued were immediately taken to the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, Kano for treatment.
Operatives of the National Emergency Management Agency, those of the State Emergency Management Agency, the Red Cross, and the Police and sister agencies are still at the scene to rescue more trapped victims.
Among the rescue teams at the scene were officials of the Fire Service, Road Safety, police, and the State Emergency management Agency (SEMA). The incident occurred less than a week after a building under construction in Abuja collapsed, leaving two persons dead.
