A female police officer and Aide-De-Camp (ADC) to the First Lady of one of the Northern states, and several others, were reportedly injured in the wee hours of Wednesday, when the popular Mekaval Hotel located in Effurun-Warri, Delta State, collapsed.
According to vailable reports, at least, seven persons were injured. However, the victims of the incident were mainly religious pilgrims from outside the state, who were in Effurun for a church programme organized by Pastor Fufeyin.
As at the time this report was filed, the cause of the incident was not ascertained, though, the Deputy Governor of the state, Mr Kingsley Otuaro, a lawyer and deacon, hinted that a possible structural fault may have been responsible.
The Deputy Governor reportedly ran to the scene of the incident at about 10:45a.m and as a precautionary measure to avert further loss of lives, he immediately ordered the closure of the hotel buildings, as well as the standing two-storey main wing of the hotel.
According to him, “The state government ordered that the hotel be shut down immediately to prevent further loss of lives. We are going to send engineers straight away.
“The collapse could have been due to some structural defect during construction because that place seems to be a waterlogged area and maybe the proper engineering works were not done,” Otuaro noted.
Five of the victims including two males and three females were reportedly taken to Divine Grace Clinic where they are now receiving treatment.
Otuaro, however, reportedly visited the Clinic and described the incident as devastating.
He lamented the devastation caused by some of the lodgers at the hotel, including a lady from Bayelsa state, simply identified as Evangelist Florence, who reportedly spent over seven hours under rubles of the collapsed hotel. Otuaro thanked God for their safe evacuation from the scene and assured them of the support of the state government.
He stressed that competent engineers were on their way to the site to investigate the immidiate and remote causes of the building collapse, admonishing inhabitants of buildings close to the scene, to evacuate pending examination by professionals to ascertain the state of the structures.
He commended public-spirited individuals and organizations like the Red Cross Society which promptly responded to distress call and assured that the state government would pick up the medical bills of the victims, some of whom were being treated.
Comments