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Seven people are reportedly killed when part of a mosque filled with hundreds of worshippers collapsed in Nigeria’s northern city of Zaria, in Kaduna state, with several others injured, officials said.
The incident occurred as hundreds of faithful observed afternoon prayers on Friday at the city’s central mosque, Zaria Emirate Council spokesman Abdullahi Kwarbai said.
An investigation is under way to ascertain the cause of the collapse. The emir of the area told local media a crack had been discovered in one of the walls on Thursday.
The mosque is thought to be more than a century old. Nigeria has a long history of buildings collapsing.
“Four bodies were found initially,” a council spokesman Abdullahi Kwarbai told Reuters news agency.
“Then three others were found after the rescue team searched the collapsed mosque,” Mr Kwarbai added.
A team of engineers had been organised to fix the crack in the building, the Emir, Mallam Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli, told Punch News.