A combined team from the State Fire Service and Government Emergency Response units has been working continuously to locate and rescue the trapped workers.
One staff member of a private rice mill in Birnin Kebbi metropolis has died, while five others remain trapped under the wreckage following a partial collapse on Tuesday.
The Kebbi State Deputy Governor, Senator Umar Abubakar Tafida, led a delegation to the site to assess the damage and oversee ongoing rescue operations.
“The visit was aimed at ascertaining the extent of the damage and overseeing the emergency response,” he said.
The Project Engineer at the facility informed the delegation that “the incident had resulted in at least one fatality,” adding that “five other individuals remained trapped under the rubble as of the time of the visit, with intensive rescue operations ongoing.”
A combined team from the State Fire Service and Government Emergency Response units has been working continuously to locate and rescue the trapped workers.
The Kebbi State Government expressed “deep sympathy to the management and staff of NIA-AGRI following the partial collapse of a section of its rice mill in the state capital.”
Deputy Governor Tafida said the cause of the collapse is yet to be determined, noting that “a full investigation would be launched once the rescue phase is concluded.”
The state government has pledged to continue supporting the rescue operation “until all affected individuals are accounted for.”
However, the incident comes days after a loud explosion at a General Hospital in Bagudo, northern Kebbi State, which sparked panic among residents.
Police authorities later confirmed the blast, which damaged a building in the hospital’s staff quarters, was caused by a fire outbreak and not a bomb.
No casualties were recorded, and security personnel quickly secured the area while specialists assessed the scene.