The structure, which was a three-storey building under construction suddenly collapsed and threw residents of Shogoye Bus Stop area, Bode community in the city into panic.
The building was said to have collapsed around 5:54 pm while bricklayers and other artisans on site were rounding off for the day’s work.
Nobody was confirmed dead as at press time but rescue efforts were ongoing.
Four of those who were trapped in the rubble were already rescued by men of the state fire service and volunteer rescuers.
Some of trapped victims were making telephone distress calls from under the rubble. But when calls were made to one of the numbers few minutes after, an eyewitness said there was no response.
The incident led to traffic gridlock in the area as motorists from Idi Arere and Oja ‘ba and those from Molete end of the city could not move freely.
As usual, crowd of sympathizers swarmed the scene, blocking the road.
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 firefighters who spoke in confidence, said: “We responded promptly to the emergency as we got to the scene about 35 minutes after the alert.
“We are trying our best to rescue the victims but the challenge we are facing is getting the right equipment to lift the concrete wreckage. Another challenge is the time of the day; it will soon get dark but that will not deter us from doing our best.”
