Posted by From Ngozi Okafor, Abuja on
No fewer than 150 persons feared trapped in an uncompleted shopping complex building located behind Chida Hotels off Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Way, Jabi Abuja.
No fewer than 150 persons feared trapped in an uncompleted shopping complex building located behind Chida Hotels off Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Way, Jabi Abuja.
An eye-witness account disclosed that the building collapsed at about 3:05pm on Tuesday when some labourers were still working on site.
The building which is suspected to be owned by former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori was expected to serve as a shopping plaza upon completion.
Adebayo Wasiu who was at the site when the incident happened said besides the labourers, there were food vendors and a number of hawkers of groundnut, satchet water, snacks and other related items, a common feature in construction site.
He said some of the hawkers and labourers were yet to be rescued from the rubble.
Minister for the Federal Capital Territory, Dr Modibbo Umar who was at the site, said that only 15 persons were involved in the accident out of whom nine have been rescued, with five trapped and one confirmed dead.
He said the victims have been rushed to the hospital as efforts to rescue the trapped victims intensified.
The minister who stated that the erring contractor would be prosecuted expressed sadness over the shabby nature of work done by some Nigerian builders, saying that masses were at the receiving end of the ineptitude of the rich contractors.
He further noted that despite the stop-work notice placed on the building by the officials of the Development Control of the FCT, the contractor still continued the development of the site.
He apologized for the inability of the department to enforce its policies, saying that the department was understaffed and would soon be refortified with more staff.
Modibbo who was angered by the slow and inefficient of the rescue operations, said his administration would set up an emergency and rescue operations department in the ministry to oversee emergencies such as this.
Officials of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were not at the scene of the event three hours after the occurrence, a development which drew the ire of the crowd that gathered at the scene.
One of the trapped victims was said to be making a save-our-soul desperate calls to a relative but nobody could reach him.
The masses expressed the fear that if the rescue operation was not re-enforced, the persons lying within the wreckage might lose their lives.
At press time, construction firms like Dantata and Sawoe, Julius Berger were at the scene with their earth movers to lend a helping hand.