2 die in Osun building collapse

No fewer than two people have been confirmed dead in a storey building collapse in the Eweta area of Ikirun, Osun State.

It was gathered that the building under construction collapsed on Wednesday evening.

It was learned that the two victims and two others were working in the building when it collapsed and trapped them.

A resident of the area, identified simply as Lateef, disclosed that the victims were evacuated by some residents who rushed to the scene, adding that the building owner and one woman among the victims died while on admission at the hospital.

“Some minutes to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, we heard a loud noise from a construction site in our area and people rushed to the scene.

“When we got there, we saw that a storey building under construction had collapsed and search-and-rescue started immediately. We evacuated four people from the rubble, three females and a male. We learned they were working in the building when the incident occurred.

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“The victims were taken to a hospital here in Ikirun. All of them were in critical condition. But this morning (Thursday), we were told that two of the victims died,” Lateef told Punch.

Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Osun State, Kehinde Adeleke, said the building under construction was being used as a church.

Adeleke said: “A storey building being used as a church collapsed yesterday (Wednesday) at about 6.45 p.m. The church building is in the Eweta community in Ikirun.

“Our officer that visited the scene said the affected building was still under construction and some workers were working inside it when collapsed.

“Four people were trapped under the rubble. They were later evacuated and taken to a nearby hospital. Three women and a man were evacuated.

“As of this morning, Thursday, two of the victims have died. One of the deceased was the owner of the building.”

The building collapse was also confirmed by the Osun State Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola.

The Star