The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has confirmed the death of three persons who died after a building under construction caved in on Isi Ewu Road, Nbodo community, in the Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State
It was gathered that the victims were labourers working at the site of the two-storey building when the incident occurred.
The incident occurred on Saturday, as some persons sustained injuries and were rushed to a hospital.
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The NEMA South-south Zonal Coordinator, Godwin Tepikor, who spoke at the incident scene Sunday, said the disaster agency has concluded the evacuation, adding that the three dead bodies recovered from the rubble have been deposited at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) mortuary.
Tepikor blamed the incident on sharp practices by the engineer constructing the building adding that the engineer may have been compromised on the project.
“We got a report of the collapsed building yesterday (Saturday) and as the lead agency in charge of disaster management in Nigeria, we coordinated other stakeholders on a rescue mission at the incident scene.
“It’s glaring from our site assessment that the engineer or whoever would have been in charge of the project would have compromised,” he stated.
Also The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the National Emergency Management Agency said the collapse was due to the use of substandard materials.
The Public Relations Officer of the NSCDC, Rivers Command, Olufemi Ayodele, while confirming the incident quoted the state Commandant of the corps, Michael Ogar, as saying it was caused by poor quality materials.
Ogar, who was represented by the Head of the Rivers NSCDC Disaster Management Rescue Team, Assistant Commandant James Ngene, during a visit to the scene, said preliminary investigation revealed that the rods, pillars and blocks used in the construction were below the required specifications.
The statement read in part,
“The collapse of the two-storey building could have actually been avoided if standardised materials and right specifications were used.
“Owners of buildings and landlords are advised to be wary of desperate and quack building contractors who care only about their pockets and not the lives of innocent people.”
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