Two confirmed dead in Abuja building collapse

Two persons have been confirmed dead after a shopping mall collapsed in Kubwa, a satellite town in Abuja.

The mall, under construction, was earlier reported by PREMIUM TIMES to have crumbled late Thursday night with seven persons within its premises.

Five of the victims were rescued by officials of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) on Friday morning while tractors continued combing the rubble in search of the other two.

However, the Head of Public Affairs of FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Nkechi Isa, in a statement, confirmed the death of the last two persons.

She said the remains of the two have been retrieved and deposited at the Kubwa District Hospital mortuary where their relatives identified them.

She also confirmed that three of the five persons rescued alive from the ruins suffered various degrees of injuries while the two earlier admitted for treatment at the district hospital have also been discharged.

“The rescue operation at the collapsed site came to an end with five persons rescued alive, three with various degrees of injuries, while two persons were unhurt and discharged from the Kubwa District Hospital,” Ms Isa noted.

Following the unfortunate incident, the FCT Minister, Muhammad Bello, has called for the conduct of an integrity test on buildings in the area to prevent reoccurrence.

A two-storey building under construction in Abuja also collapsed in July 2020.

Unlike the lastest, 10 persons were trapped in the incident recorded in a residential building behind Dawaki Modern Market, in Galadima area of the FCT.