No Death Recorded, Injured Victims In Hospital

Rescue operations have been concluded at the site of the collapse of a three-story building at Shogoye Bus Stop, Bode, Ibadan.

The building which was under construction came down around 6pm Friday while bricklayers and other artisans on site were rounding off for the day’s work.

As at 3.45am Saturday when rescue operations ended, all the six victims trapped in the rubble have been successfully evacuated and no death was recorded. The injured are currently receiving treatment in hospital.

The Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Toye Arulogun, in a statement on Saturday, said that an investigation into the incident will be carried out by the relevant agencies. He also admonished building construction practitioners to desist from cutting corners and using cheap materials.

He reiterated the imperative of adhering to approved building plans.

The incident threw the area into panic and confusion, as a crowd created a traffic gridlock that cut off the Molete end of the road from the Idi Arere and Oja ‘ba end.

Among those rescued are 42-year-old Olalekan Dauda, Tunde, Toheeb Gbadamosi and Rilwan Oladepo. Dauda said he was working with other artisans on the third floor when the building collapsed. He said he just heard a sudden blast and later found that he and others in the building were trapped in the rubble.

Gbadamosi, 19, said: “Today is my first time of working at this place. I just came around in order to raise some money for my upkeep because things were difficult. I thank God that I came out of the rubble alive”.

One of the fire fighters who spoke in confidence, said: “We responded promptly to the emergency as we got to the scene about 35 minutes after the alert.