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Sierra Leone’s Vice President, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, is en route to the scene of a tragic building collapse in Freetown that has claimed ten lives and left many others trapped under the debris.
The seven-story building, located on Bai Bureh Road, Shell New Road, crumbled earlier yesterday, between 11 a.m. and 12 noon.
Initial reports from the country’s Disaster Management Agency confirmed the deaths of ten victims—two males and eight females—including a seven-year-old boy, six women, and two young girls under the age of five.
So far, seven survivors—two females and five males—have been pulled from the rubble and are receiving treatment at Rokupa Government Hospital and Choitram Hospital.
Vice President Jalloh is expected to personally assess the rescue efforts and offer government support to the victims’ families. Rescue teams are racing against time to reach those still trapped beneath the debris, with some survivors managing to communicate their locations to authorities.
However, the operation has been hindered by the difficult terrain surrounding the collapsed structure.
The ill-fated building, owned by non-resident Bailor Barrie, was used for both residential and commercial purposes. According to eyewitness accounts and early investigations, the collapse is being attributed to poor construction practices and the use of substandard building materials—a recurrent issue in Freetown’s infrastructure failures.
Vice President Jalloh’s visit underscores the urgency of the crisis, with authorities pledging swift action to address the widespread problem of unsafe buildings in the capital.
The Director General of the National Disaster Management Agency, Lieutenant General (Rtd) Brima Sesay, emphasized that many other structures across the city are at risk and warned residents of the dangers posed by these unstable buildings.
As rescue efforts continue, the focus now shifts to providing aid to survivors and preventing further tragedies by enforcing stricter building regulations.
