A three-storey building under construction Wednesday evening collapsed opposite the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Awka Office, along Enugu -Onitsha Expressway.
TNC correspondent, who arrived at the scene, a few minutes after the collapse, reports that about 2 persons working on the roof of the building before the collapse, had been rescued and taken to hospital.
Some eyewitnesses who also spoke to TNC say there are still workers trapped under the rubble, although it is unclear how many of them are there.
According to an eyewitness, some workers were working inside the building when the building collapsed.
“I saw them carrying materials up the building. They were about 5 of them. There was also a security man.
”Earlier in the day, they had come to buy things at my shop and I sold to them,” the eyewitness commented.
Another eye witness, Monday Ibeh, also corroborated the claim that the building had persons trapped.
According to him, the fresh mixture at the front of the building and the equipment there imply that there were others trapped.
It was gathered that the building was at the roofing stage before the unfortunate incident.
Occupants of nearby residential buildings revealed that in the past few weeks, work on the structure had intensified resulting in the finishing level the building was at.
A nearby resident who would not want his name on print recalled how the initial owner of the building leased it to a certain business tycoon, who is currently developing it.
According to him, it appeared the new developer failed to do the necessary reinforcements at the foundation, before taking the structure up to the third floor, resulting in its collapse.
Another nearby resident, Prisca Nkem revealed how they just heard a loud noise, only to come out and see the tall building leveled.
She however observed that the quality of the concrete mixture used for the building was substandard, while it appeared the roads were not the right specification for a building as high as the third floor.
But on the contrary, a builder in one of the nearby ongoing structures, Chidi Nnakwue said he knows the builder, one Timber, who has built many quality structures within the locality, adding that he was at a loss as to why the building collapsed.
Meanwhile, as of the time of filing this report, no equipment for rescue operation has arrived the scene, except ambulance and fire truck.
