Four persons are said to have been killed in the Wednesday’s collapsed building at Agbama Housing Estate, Umuahia, Abia state, DailyPost can authoritatively report.
Aside the dead victims of the collapsed building, 4 other people were also critically injured and now receiving medical attention at the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia.
Although the identities of the victims were not known as at press time, unconfirmed report said that a family of four was inside the building when it collapsed. At the moment, Dailypost cannot confirm whether the family was affected in any way.
The incident occurred Wednesday night at about 8pm, throwing the entire residents of the estate into panic.
The reason for the unfortunate collapse of the building that was under construction has not been given at the moment. However, residents have alleged that the owner was trying to extent the building originally designed for one storey to three stories without proper reinforcement.
Regrettably, the collapsed structure, according to sources belong to a popular building materials merchant in the city.
The news of the collapsed building threw the entire Umuahia city into confusion as no such thing has happened in recent past.
Security agencies, the Red Cross and other paramilitary agencies were all involved in the rescue exercise. A construction company and the state Ministry of works also moved in their equipment to assist in the evacuation effort.
Deputy Governor of the state, Chief Emeka Ananaba, outgoing Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Mgba Agu Mgba; the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 9 and the Commissioner of Police, Usman Tilli Abuabakar had visited the site of the collapsed building earlier.
The Governor, Chief Theodore Orji is out of the state for official assignment in Abuja.
The Deputy Governor later visited the hospital to see the injured victims and urged the hospital management to take proper care of them.
As at press time, rescue efforts were still on going as sympathizers still continue to troop to the scene of the incident.
Komen