Less than three weeks after a two-storey building collapsed at the Oduigbo Section of Ochanja Market, Onitsha, killing at least ten persons, a five-storey building Sunday afternoon, collapsed at Fegge in Onitsha South local government area of Anambra state.
Sources said the five-storey building was under construction when it suddenly collapsed.
Residents of the area say they heard the sound of a crack and then a loud noise and the two-storey building collapsed.
It is not clear if there were workers on site, but an eyewitness had it that there were human activities under the building two hours before it collapsed.
Secretary of Onitsha South local government area who spoke on behalf of the Transition Committee Chairman Chief Emeka Joseph Orji said: “An emergency rescue team has already been deployed to carry out preliminary rescue activities with the assistance of security operatives in the area.
“We urge members of the public not to panic as the Onitsha South local government area is on the top of the moment.”
Confirming the incident, the Chairman of the Anambra State Physical Planning Board, ANSPPB Barr Chike Maduekwe, decried the development and said the building was meant to serve a commercial purpose upon completion.
Madueke, however, disclosed that the approval given was for the construction of a three-storey building but the developer went contrary to plan and started erecting a five-storey building.
Recall that the ANSPPB boss had in a press briefing last Friday, to mark the commencement of the operation ‘Show Your Permit’ explained that the government will bring down any structure started henceforth without approval.
According to him, impunities in the building industry in the state have gotten to the point that the state government has decided to take the initiative to save lives.
