By Tony John, Port Harcourt
Over seven persons have been rescued from a collapsed three-storey building under construction at Aboga along Igwuruta-Etche road in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Daily Sun reported that it was the fourth building collapse in the state in three months.
Eyewitnesses said the incident occurred around 1.30pm on Saturday during construction work.
They said no lives were lost, but seven of nine workers who were on the scene were rescued with varying degrees of injuries.
One of the eyewitnesses reported: “When I arrived here, I saw the building collapse; While some of the workers were able to jump out, others were unable to as the building collapsed on top of them.
“They were able to save everyone, but many were injured. The last person was rescued towards evening with serious injuries; He was taken to hospital in an ambulance.”
Another eyewitness said: “I heard a loud noise when I was in the house. As I rushed out, I saw the building collapse. Some people from the area and passers-by began using axes to break through the rubble to rescue the victims before the government and police joined the rescue efforts.
“The rescue was made possible through the joint efforts of people from the neighborhood, the Ikwerre Local Government Area Authority and officials of the Rivers State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development and the Ministry of Special Duties who used excavators. Fire engines and ambulances ensured timely rescue of the victims, some of whom were trapped in the rubble.”
Meanwhile, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Evans Bipi, who spoke to journalists at the scene of the incident, said it was unfortunate to start the year with an incident of building collapse.
He attributed the incident to the developer's use of substandard materials.
Bipi said: “It is unfortunate that we start the year with this tragic incident even though no lives were lost. This is the fourth building collapse we have experienced in the state since I took office.
“Preliminary investigations at the accident site revealed that the building may have collapsed due to the use of substandard materials by the contractor.
“In particular, the use of 12mm bars for the decking of a building is a clear violation of building 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 substandard materials.”
The Commissioner for Spatial Planning and Urban Development also accused the developer of building without a building plan approved by the government.
He said the ministry has sealed the property pending investigation into the cause of the building collapse and asked the property owner to report to the ministry for investigation.
“As a government, we are not happy with the repeated causes of building collapses in the state which have claimed lives, injured several persons and caused avoidable damage and loss to developers in the state.
“Let me warn that we will no longer tolerate a situation where some builders continue to breach building regulations, including building without a government-approved building plan and compromising safety standards by using substandard materials to save costs .”