Mosque under construction in Abidjan collapses, eight dead

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A mosque under construction in the Ivory Coast's capital, Abidjan, has partially collapsed. Eight people were killed and two others were injured, the Ivorian authorities told the AFP news agency on Friday.

The mosque is located in the center of Cocody, where three other buildings have collapsed in recent months, said Alban Konan, head of rescue operations for the country's military fire service.

Konan added that ongoing search and rescue efforts were 70 percent complete as of Friday afternoon.

Firefighters were notified of the “building collapse” of a “mosque under construction where prayers were being held” at around 16:00 GMT on Thursday when “the second floor collapsed,” he added.

The Ivorian Ministry of Construction, Housing and Urban Development has not confirmed whether the work was legal.

Six people were killed when an unauthorized building collapsed in Abidjan in July 2023.

Another 13 victims died in two building collapses in February and March 2023 – one during construction and another that had been built illegally.

Ivory Coast has taken several measures to strengthen monitoring of building security.

In Abidjan, a city of six million with a growing population, construction activity has exploded in recent years, sometimes without official permits.

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