15 persons confirm dead in Imo state building collapse

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA),has confirmed death of fifteen people in the building collapse along Yar’Adua Drive in Owerri, the Imo State capital,which was reported to occurred on Thursday evening.

Penushing reports that the Head of the Imo/Abia State Operations Office of the agency, Evans Ugoh made this known on Friday as rescue operations continued at the site of the incident in the state capital.

‘On April 30, an eight-storey building under construction collapsed, killing two persons, while eight others were rescued and rushed to Federal Medical Centre, Owerri. Rescue operators searching for victims pulled out five dead bodies from the debris of the building on Friday, while the eight people taken to hospital were later confirmed dead, bringing the total casualty figure to 15.

“As you can see, we are still working, disaster managers are on ground conducting search and rescue. We have exhumed five dead bodies today. I believe that more people are still trapped but we will not give up,”Ugoh said.

Penpushing further reports that, reacting to the sad development,, the Chairman of Owerri Capital Development Authority, Innocent Ikpamezie, blamed the collapse on poor engineering work.

The Chairman who spoke on a radio programme on Friday,analysing the cause of the collapse,pointed out that many contractors were in the habit of violating building guidelines, which , often results in building collapses.