Calabar landslide: UNICEM hospital collapses into gully as rain intensifies

A hospital building in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, has collapsed into a deep gully after torrential rainfall destabilized the hillside on which it was constructed.

The private medical facility, identified as UNICEM Hospital, dangled precariously over an eroding cliff along Anansa Road before a massive section of the ground gave way on Thursday, sending concrete debris and structural pillars crashing into the ravine below.

Amateur footage captured by eyewitnesses showed residents watching from a safe distance as the earth slipped beneath the complex, causing the structure to cave in. While panic swept through the immediate community, emergency authorities have yet to confirm official casualty figures or state whether anyone was trapped inside at the time of the collapse.

The collapse marks a worsening of the Anansa Road landslide site, where shifting soil and advancing erosion have steadily threatened surrounding residential and commercial properties despite early remedial interventions by authorities.

The incident comes less than a month after two separate landslide tragedies struck the Calabar metropolis in July, claiming six lives. The first incident in the Ikot Awatim community buried five people—including four siblings—after heavy downpours, while a subsequent slide in Edim Otop killed an eight-year-old girl.

Erosion control experts and local residents noted that the hillside beneath the hospital had been showing signs of structural failure for days prior to Thursday’s final collapse.

The recurring environmental disasters have renewed severe concerns among urban planners and residents over erosion issues in Calabar, Cross River State.

Although government agencies have initiated preliminary engineering measures aimed at stabilizing the Anansa Road axis, community members argue that the speed of soil degradation during the peak of the rainy season is outpacing interventions.

As of Friday, neither the Cross River State Government nor the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) had issued an official statement regarding structural damage estimates or long-term evacuation plans for adjoining properties along the active landslide corridor.