Two construction workers died while another person was seriously injured when a section of the old fence of Kwara Hotels collapsed.
Chronicle NG gathered that learnt that the incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon during active construction work at the hotel’s site, located in the GRA area of Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
The victims, once a symbol of the state’s thriving hospitality industry, is currently undergoing a facelift as part of the government’s infrastructure renewal drive.
It was gathered on Wednesday that the three victims were rushed to a private hospital on Unity Road (now Wahab Folawiyo Road) where two of them were pronounced dead while one who survived was being given intensive medical care at a hospital.
An eyewitness near the site who spoke on the condition of anonymity described the moment of the collapse as sudden and horrifying.
“I was nearby selling when I suddenly heard a loud blast. It sounded like a bomb. People started shouting and running away from the site. It was terrifying,” she narrated.
According to the witness, several passersby initially thought an explosion had occurred until the true nature of the incident became clearer moments later, as emergency responders began arriving at the scene.
Mallam Rafiu Ajakaye, Chief Press Secretary to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, termed the situation as profoundly disturbing.
Ajakaye declined to answer to our correspondent’s inquiry on the issue, referring to the contractor in charge of the renovation.
He did, however, corroborate the occurrence to several media outlets, including Diamond FM 88.7 Radio and African News, which our correspondent watched.
Ajakaye said, “It is quite saddening. Yesterday (Tuesday), part of the structure under renovation gave way. Three workers on duty were badly injured. One of them made it, but the remaining two didn’t survive despite first aid and emergency attention at the nearest hospital.
“Their families have since been contacted, according to the facility managers,” Ajakaye told the media organisations.
He however did not reveal the identity of the victims.
However, when reporters visited the site of the hotel on Wednesday afternoon, the premises had been fully barricaded and heavily guarded by police and private security operatives.
Access to the area was tightly restricted, and no construction workers were seen within the premises.
As of the time of reporting this story, neither the construction company overseeing the project nor the consulting engineers had issued an official statement about the cause of the collapse.
Kwara Hotels Limited was being renovated at a cost of N17.8 billion and was granted to Craneburg Construction Company in October 2023, with the renovations expected to span 24 months.
