At least three people have died following the collapse of a three-storey building with a penthouse still under construction in Egbu Umuenem, Otolo Nnewi community, Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
It was gathered that the building collapsed at about 1 a.m. on Sunday while the workers were about to start plastering work on the structure.
The dead victims, a father and two of his children, who were said to be among those to carry out work on the structure were instantly killed in the incident, while others sustained varying degrees of injuries.
Eyewitnesses said some other people who were also trapped in the rubbles were later rescued during a rescue operation and rushed to St. Felix Hospital, Nnewi.
“The building came down at about 1 am this morning (Sunday) and it came with a thunderous noise. Three people, a man and his two sons, who were also supposed to be part of those to work on the site died in the incident. They came from the Nimo community and were sleeping over so as to begin their work early in the morning before the incident happened,” the eyewitness said.
Some officials of the Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, Anambra State chapter, led by the Chairman, Victor Meju and the Transition Committee Chairman of Nnewi North LGA, Chris Obiora, had visited the scene of the incident.
When they arrived at the scene, manual labourers were seen on a rescue mission as the excavator brought to rescue the victims broke down at the site.
Addressing journalists after the dead bodies were brought out from the debris, Meju explained that “poor foundation, poor concrete mixture, poor quality of materials, poor wearing cost capacity, nonconformity to standards, non-approval from relevant regulatory authorities led to the avoidable tragedy”.
Meju, however, announced the sealing-off of the site, adding that the owner of the building, Mr Chukwunafu Anamanjo, will be invited for questioning and an investigation will be carried out.
The Transition Committee Chairman, Nnewi North LGA, Chris Obiora, while also reacting, called on people to always make use of certified engineers and other relevant personnel in the building sector for their construction works.
He added that monitoring teams are also important in ensuring that builders stick to stipulated standards.
The Sectoral Head of COREN in charge of Nnewi and environs, Arinze Okwuosa, said his team observed a lot of foul plays in the course of carrying out their job, calling for government intervention to forestall future occurrences.
The bodies of the dead victims have been deposited at a morgue in Nnewi.
However, the state police command spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, had yet to respond to enquiries when contacted on the development as of the time of filing this report.
