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UPDATED: One dead, another still trapped in Abuja Mall collapse
One person has been confirmed dead after a two-storey building collapsed in Kubwa Satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
ChronicleNG had earlier reported that many persons were trapped and while five were rescued after the collapse.
The building that was still under construction collapsed, at the intersection of Gado Nasco Road and Hamza Abdullahi Street. A shopping mall is also housed in the structure.
Witnesses claim that the event took place on Thursday night at around 11:30.
A combined task force made up of members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigeria Police Force, and locals managed to save five of the victims.
At the scene of the tragedy are also representatives of the National Emergency Management Agency.
Shuaibu Abdullahi, the son of the victim who perished in the wreckage, was one of the casualties who had previously been rescued from the burning structure and treated at a general hospital.
Abdullahi who spoke to correspondents before his father’s corpse was found had noted that his dad was one of the two other persons trapped in the building.
He said, “I was rescued with the other four persons, but my dad who is a security man is still in the collapsed building and I sustained injuries.”
Umar Shuaibu, the coordinator of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, had earlier informed reporters that attempts were being made to rescue the other trapped victims.
Shuaibu said, “Two among the rescued are out of the hospital while three victims are still in the hospital. But we are suspecting that two people are trapped because it is development ongoing. So usually in a construction site like this, we cannot determine who and who are inside. As you can see here, we are making sure that all hands are on deck to rescue the trapped victims.
Our focus right now is on protecting lives. We will discover the culprit later. On most sites, the developers take short cuts. On occasion, they mix things improperly. They occasionally employ inferior materials.
The building fell on Thursday night at around 11:30 p.m., according to one of the victims who was rescued, Hafeez Olayinka, who talked to reporters. However, the victims weren’t found until early today (Friday) and were then rushed to the hospital.
“On Thursday, at around 11:30 p.m., we recognised that the structure was crumbling, so we made an attempt to flee. But this morning, five of us were saved, and they brought us to the hospital.
