Fifteen construction workers narrowly escaped death on Wednesday after a two-storey building under construction suddenly collapsed in the Unguwar Rogo area along Bauchi Road in Sokoto metropolis.

 

Emergency responders were swiftly mobilised to the scene following a distress call received at about 2:23 p.m., with fears that workers could be trapped beneath the rubble.

However, after an extensive search of the debris, officials confirmed that every worker on the site had safely escaped, with no injuries or fatalities recorded.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), through its Sokoto Operations Office, said its Search and Rescue Team immediately joined other emergency agencies to comb through the collapsed structure, evacuate any possible victims and secure the area against further danger.

The operation involved personnel from the Federal Fire Service, Sokoto State Fire Service, Sokoto State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the Nigerian Red Cross Society, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Nigeria Police Force, the Sokoto State Urban Planning and Development Authority, the State Association of Civil Engineers and members of the local community.

Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the Sokoto State Police Command, DSP Ahmad Rufai, said the collapse did not claim any lives or leave anyone injured.

The owner of the building project, Alhaji Auwal Abubakar, described the incident as unfortunate but expressed gratitude that all the workers came out alive.

Authorities have since launched an investigation to determine what caused the building to give way.