At least two people were killed when a three-story building collapsed at the Beirut GSM market in Kano.
Musa Abdullahi, the Secretary of the Nigerian Red Cross Society in Kano, said an official of the Kano Electricity Distribution Company was electrocuted during the rescue operation.
He claimed that the official died while attempting to cut the power to the collapsed building.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), which co-ordinated the rescue operation, also stated that eight people were rescued from the building and transported to Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital. Sadly, one of them died in the hospital.
According to NEMA spokesperson Manzo Ezekiel, six people with minor injuries were treated and released. However, he stated that one of them, who has multiple fractures, is still being treated at the hospital.
The official said in a late Tuesday statement that search and rescue operations to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble are still ongoing.
He stated that search and rescue teams from NEMA, Kano State Emergency Management Agency, Fire Service, Nigerian Police, the military, Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, State Road Transport Authority (KAROTA), Nigerian Red Cross Society, and others are working together to ensure the operation’s safety.
Meanwhile, following the collapse of the building, Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje suspended the inauguration of commissioners-designate to honor both the victims of the collapsed building and flooding in parts of the state.
“Kano State Government has suspended the swearing-in ceremony of commissioners-designate earlier scheduled for tomorrow in honour of victims trapped in a three-storey building collapse at a GSM Market along Beirut Road in the metropolis,” the government’s spokesperson, Muhammad Garba, said.
Mr Garba said the governor, while sympathising with the victims, directed rescue efforts to be doubled, to get to those trapped in the rubbles, quickly.
“While lamenting the unfortunate incident, he assured us that an investigation is ongoing to unravel the cause of the collapsed structure, which was under construction,” he added.
