One person died and four were rescued when a four-storey 100-room hotel under construction collapsed over the weekend at Independence Layout, Enugu.
The deceased was said to be sleeping when the building went down.
The incident occurred in the early hours of yesterday, drawing residents and emergency responders to the scene as rescuers continued to search the wreckage for survivors.
The Executive Chairman, Enugu Capital Territory Development Agency (ECTDA), Uche Anya, told reporters at the site: “This property collapsed in the early hours of the morning. We arrived here around 6am. When we arrived, we met one of the security men, who said six people slept in the uncompleted property, but one of them was not around when the incident occurred.’’
According to him, ECTDA had inspected the building and issued a stop-work order before sealing the premises about six months ago.
“When I led the team that inspected here, we found out that there were serious integrity issues and non-compliance with their 2021 approval.
“I issued the first ‘stop work order,’ which, due to the violation, resulted in our sealing the place over the last six months,” Anya said.
He said the representative of the owner, said to be living abroad, had been engaging the agency in the past 40 days over efforts to remedy the identified problems before the building collapsed.
Anya added that the owner’s representative had been handed over to the police to assist with investigations into the circumstances surrounding the collapse.
Emergency agencies deployed rescue equipment, including bulldozers and excavators, to the scene as rescuers combed the rubble in search of those trapped.
Director, Fire Service, Okwudiri Ohaa, said four persons were initially rescued from the collapsed building, adding that the victims were taken to a health facility for treatment.
“As a rescue officer, what we did was to ask the security man how many people are here. He said that there were supposed to be six. One person had left before it happened,’’ he added.
“So, we were able at that initial time to rescue four persons. Out of the four, two sustained minor injuries and they were all rushed to a health facility for proper checks,” Oha said.
He said another person was subsequently recovered from the debris, but his condition could only be confirmed at a health facility.
“The last person we just recovered was the fifth person. It is when you get to a health facility that you know whether he is still alive,” he stated.
The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) Information Officer in Enugu, Mr. Ezeani Nnanyelugo, confirmed that six persons were believed to have been on the premises, although one had left before the building collapsed.
He said four persons were rescued and stabilised in hospital, while a body recovered from the wreckage was taken to a health facility for confirmation.
“When we came to the scene of the incident, we found out that there were a total of six persons that were supposed to be on the site. One person was not on the site as at the time of the incident, while the four others were rescued and taken to the hospital and have been stabilised,” Nnanyelugo said.
“Just not quite long ago, one body was recovered and it was taken to the hospital to confirm whether he was dead or alive,” he added.
The Executive Secretary, Enugu State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Chinasa Mbah, said rescue would continue until the debris was excavated.
“We are going to excavate everything because you can see the machines that the government brought. We will excavate everything to ensure no survivor or body is left,” she said.
The rescue involved the Red Cross, SEMA, ECTDA, Enugu State Ambulance Services, NEMA, Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and other emergency responders.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
