Collapsed building: Residents, traders condemn rescue operations

Written by Abubakar Yakubu & Itodo Daniel Sule Friday, 01 July 2011 00:00

Residents and traders yesterday condemned the rescue operations carried out by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Federal Fire Service and police when a two-storey building collapsed at Mararaba in Nasarawa State on Wednesday morning.

Chinedu Ikechuckwu, a trader, who took part in the rescue operation, said if not for traders from the building materials market, nobody would have been brought out of the rubbles alive.

He said officials of the fire service arrived in their fire van and blocked the road meant to serve as a route to take rescued victims to hospitals.

“The only thing the van had was water hose, while NEMA officials came with a life detector machine without cranes to remove heavy concretes so that victims can be saved,” he said.

Alex Obi, another trader, said NEMA officials wanted a local caterpillar to clear debris from the site but were warned against such action. “We had to shout on top of our voices for the caterpillar driver to stop because those trapped in the rubbles would have been crushed,” he said.

Our reporter noticed during the rescue operation on Wednesday that firemen were using saw machines to cut iron rods, while traders from the building materials market rushed to the site with equipment, with which they dug holes to free about 15 persons, including children.

A crowd that turned up at the site yesterday was shocked when the rescue operation did not start on time.

As at 1 pm, a bulldozer driver was seen sleeping inside his machine, while four civil defence officials were at the place waiting for other members of the team.

There appeared to be no sign as to whether the operation will commence and people that stood on top of the debris wondered loudly the fate of those still trapped in the rubbles.

Also commenting on the incident, President of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Builder Dachollom Jambol, blamed government for poor supervision of structures being erected in the country, adding that the incident is a wakeup call for the National Assembly to pass the National Building Code Bill into law.