Rescue teams extract person from debris nearly 9 hours following Abuja structure's collapse

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By Omeiza Ajayi, ABUJA

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Federal Capital Territory FCT minister, Nyesom Wike has directed that all casualties from Saturday’s building collapse in Abuja’s Gudu district receive free medical treatment, as rescue teams pulled one survivor from the debris more than nine hours after a three-storey structure caved in, killing five people.

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Read Also: Photos: Five dead, 11 hospitalised as 3-storey building collapses in Abuja

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The building, located behind Gudu Market and still under construction, went down at 8:30 am on Saturday, trapping an unknown number of workers — most of them labourers — beneath the wreckage.

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FCT Mandate Secretary for Health Services and Environment, Dr. Adedolapo Fasawe, who visited the scene, personally attended to the survivor moments after he was pulled from the rubble before he was transported to hospital for further treatment. She confirmed that Wike’s directive on free treatment was already being acted upon.

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The FCT Emergency Management Department said its search and rescue teams had by Saturday evening recovered 16 persons from the debris. Five did not survive, while the remaining 11 were taken to the Federal Medical Centre Abuja, Asokoro District Hospital and Maitama Hospital for treatment.

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FEMD Head of Public Affairs Nkechi Isa, in a statement, said rescue operations remained ongoing, with multiple agencies working the site simultaneously. Those on ground included the National Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Fire Service, the FCT Fire Service, the FCT Police Command, the Nigerian Army, the Federal Road Safety Corps, FCT Emergency Medical Services and health officers from Wuse District Hospital.

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Anxious residents gathered around the cordoned site as responders continued to work through the rubble in search of anyone still alive beneath the collapsed structure.

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