Seven Escape Death as 3-Storey Building Collapses in Rivers

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

Over seven persons have been rescued from a collapsed 3-storey building under construction at Aboga axis of Igwuruta-Etche road in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.

THISDAY observed that this is the fourth building collapse in the state within three months.

Residents of the area, who claimed to have witnessed the incident, said the collapse occurred at about 1:30p.m. on Saturday while construction work was ongoing.

They said though no life was loss, seven out of nine workers who were working in the building were rescued with various degrees of injuries.

According to one of the eyewitness who disclosed his name as John Dike, “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 did not disclose her name, 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.”

THISDAY gathered that the rescue was made possible by the joint effort of people from the neighbourhood, the authority of Ikwerre LGA and officials of the Rivers State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development as well as the Ministry of Special Duties who deployed Excavators, Fire Truck and Ambulance to ensure timely rescue of the victims some of whom were trapped in the rubble.

The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Evans Bipi, who spoke with journalists at the scene of the incident regretted that the incident happened in the new year.

He attributed the incident to the use of substandard materials by the developer.

According to him, “It is unfortunate that we are beginning the year with this tragic incident, though no life was loss. This is the fourth 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, who also accused the developer of building without government approved building plan, said the ministry has 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. 

He said: “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.”