Four Dead, Others Trapped As Two-Storey Building Collapses in Abuja

Henry Umoru

29 June 2011

Abuja — Tragedy struck, Wednesday, in Mararaba, a suburb on the outskirts of the nation’s Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, following the collapse of a two-storey building under construction inside a compound housing a new generation bank.

According to a source, the affected building located in the Building material area of the city came down at 10.20am.

Two buildings under construction had to be demolished before the bulldozers could have access to evacuate debris and rescue victims trapped under the collapsed building.

At the scene of the incident, officials of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, the FCT Department of Development Control and the Federal Fire Service were on ground to save the situation even though it was quite hectic for them due to the poor construction and compartment nature of houses in the area.

A rescued victim.

As at press time, about twelve persons were still trapped, four were brought out dead while two who were seriously injured were rushed to Nyanya General Hospital.

Meanwhile, the Head, Public Relations of NEMA, Yushau Shuaib said in an SMS message, today, that the organization and other agencies have so far rescued twelve victims from the building, just as it admitted that a woman died from the tragedy while others are still trapped in the rubble.

According to an, an eyewitness, “the artisans on site resumed work around 9am. It was barely one and half hours after they started work when we heard a loud noise, we thought it was a bomb but it was when we moved nearer to the place that we discovered that the building had collapsed”

The collapsed building.

“Although the area is swampy, there are other buildings on the same plot of land that are still standing, most of the blocks that are being used on the site are of less quality. The foundation also is not too strong, I think the owner of the house was bent on completing the house within a stipulated time, the construction of the house has been so fast.”

AllAfrica – All the Time