How 40 Escaped Death In Ilorin Building Collapse

Yesterday,no fewer than 40 people escaped death following the collapse of a section of a four-storey building at Zulu Gambari Road, Government Reservation Area in Ilorin, theKwara State capital,Punch reports.
Our correspondent gathered that three victims were injured and were evacuated
to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Sources said that no fewer than 40 masons, helpers/labourers, plumbers and other artisans were on-site when a section of the building collapsed.
It was learnt that some debris from the failed structure fell on two containers near the construction site.
Our correspondent also learnt that some of the people were also holding a religious programme in one of the containers, but they managed to run out while the workers in the building either escaped or were rescued.
One of the victims, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “We were praying inside the container when the building suddenly collapsed. We rushed out from the container. A woman called Mummy Samad, who was inside the second container, has been taken to a hospital. Nobody died.”
The Secretary, Kwara State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Building, Mr.Maruf Ahmed, described the incident as unfortunate.
Ahmed said,

“We heard the bad news; a lot of things could be responsible for it. The structure had failed integrity test. It could be because poor materials were used or the technical team may not have the cognate experience to handle a structure like this. A lot of reasons could be adduced to this failure.
“I am not in a position to say that the building is no longer habitable or that it should be totally demolished. Professionally, it has failed integrity test.”

Efforts to get the response of the Chairman of the state’ chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, Mr. Raheem Adeoti, were not successful.