Scores Injured As 3-storey Building Under Construction Collapses In Rivers
•By Our Reporter
PORT HARCOURT – Scores of site workers were on Saturday trapped under the rubble of scalloped 3-storey building under construction at Aboga, along the Igwuruta-Etche road in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
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Eyewitnesses said the incident occurred around 1:30pm while construction work was going on.
Although no life was lost to the incident owing to the prompt intervention of residents in the area, authority of Ikwerre Local Government Area and officials of the Rivers State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development as well as the Ministry of Special Duties that deployed excavators.
According to an eyewitness, seven out of nine workers who were working in the building when it carved in were immediately rescued with various degrees of injuries.
He said, “Getting here I saw the building collapsing, while some of the workers were able to jump out others could not as the building collapsed on them.
“They were able to rescue everybody but many were injured, the last person was rescued towards the night with serious injuries, he was rushed to the Hospital in an Ambulance.”
Another eyewitness who narrated what transpired at the scene said, “I heard a loud sound while I was in the house, when I rushed out I saw the building collapsing, some persons from this area and passersby started using axe to break through the debris to rescue the victims before the Government and Police came to join the rescue effort”.
Meaning, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development Rt. Hon. Evans Bipi who spoke to newsmen at the scene of the incident, blamed them developers for the collapse, saying they used substandard materials.
Bipi said, “It is unfortunate that we are beginning the year with this tragic incident, though no life was loss. This is the 4th building collapse we are witnessing in the State since I assumed office”
“Preliminary investigation at the scene of the incident shows that the building may have collapsed due to the use of substandard materials by the builder”.
“Specifically, the use of 12mm rods for decking a building is a clear violation of construction standards. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident, as similar cases of building collapses in the State have been linked to the same cause – the use of inferior materials.”
The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development Rt. Hon. Evans Bipi in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Emeka Idika Kalu on Sunday, accused the developer of building without government approved building plan.
He said the Ministry had sealed the property pending investigation into the cause of the building collapse and has asked the property owner to report to the Ministry for investigation.
“As a government we are not happy with the repeated causes of building collapse in the State that have claimed life, injured several persons and caused avoidable damages and losses to developers in the State”.
“Let me warn that we will no longer condone a situation where some builders will continue to violate the building code including building without government-approved building plan and compromising safety standards by using substandard materials in a bid to save cost”.
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