150 year-old mosque collapsed on worshipers, four dead, seven injured

A section of the Zaria central mosque in Kaduna on Friday collapsed and killed four worshippers.

Seven other people were also said to have sustained injuries in the accident.

The incident occurred when the worshippers were observing prayers around 4 pm.

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Emir of Zazzau, Ahmed Bamalli, who confirmed the incident, said the walls of the mosque had developed cracks, noting that there were plans to repair them before the incident.

“We had earlier observed a crack on the wall of the mosque yesterday, and were planning to deploy a team of civil engineers to effect repairs when this unfortunate incident happened,” he said.

Bamali directed that prayers be held outside the mosque until the repairs are done.

He also instructed that the funeral prayer for the four victims be observed at 8.30 pm at the emir’s palace.

One of the survivor, Shehu Nagari, who narrowly escaped from being trapped said the worshippers were in the second “sujud of Asr prayer” when a portion of the mosque collapsed.

Nagari said the building collapsed on those seated directly at the section, killing the four victims.

He added that the collapsed section of the mosque, which was built with mud, had existed for over 150 years.