Three persons have been confirmed dead, while five others were rescued alive after a two-storey commercial building under construction collapsed at Owode-Ede, Ede North Local Government Area of Osun State.

The tragic incident occurred at Zone 8, Oke Alaafia Community, triggering an emergency rescue operation involving the Federal Fire Service and other relevant agencies.

In a statement, the spokesperson for the Federal Fire Service, Osun State Command, DSF Ojo Omoyemi Olamide, disclosed that the command received a distress call through its emergency line at about 11:30pm and immediately deployed personnel to the scene.

According to her, the five survivors were rescued from the rubble and rushed to Idera Specialist Hospital, Ede, for urgent medical attention, while the three bodies recovered from the collapsed structure were handed over to the Nigeria Police Force, A Division, Ede.

Olamide explained that the building was a two storey commercial complex comprising six shops on the upper floor, another six shops on the middle floor and two stores on the ground floor, covering an estimated area of 50m by 100m.

She added that preliminary investigations pointed to suspected structural defects and the use of substandard building materials as possible causes of the collapse.

The rescue operation, which involved the Federal Fire Service, Osun State Fire Service, Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), was concluded at about 9:26am on Saturday, after which personnel returned to their respective stations.

The fire service spokesperson further disclosed that property worth an estimated N100 million was lost in the disaster, while assets valued at approximately N150 million were successfully salvaged.