Ten people trapped as two-storey building collapses in Abuja

Ten persons were on Saturday trapped when a two-storey building under construction collapsed in Galadima area of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), while number of the workers at the site were injured

Penpushing reports that the incident occurred at about 10:40 a.m. while one of the injured as at the time of filing this report was rushed to the nearby hospital for treatment

The Director General of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),Idris Abass said the agency in swift response raced to the incident scene following a distress call received.

Penpushing further reports that, officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Fire Service and the Nigerian Police Force responded to the distress call and rescued the workers.

The Director General added that based on the report the agency received the building was a bungalow but the developer was trying to upgrade it to a two-storey building , affirming that, ’ten persons were trapped, three were rescued and were taken to the hospital while others are okay,”

Penpushing also reports that, Abass advised builders to desist from contravening the building plan as approved by the development control department of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The Director, Search and Rescue, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Edward Adedokun said the agency was on ground immediately it received the distress call to coordinate all agencies at the site of the building collapse.

Penpushing reports that, Adedokun explained that the agency would ensure that all necessary clearance operation was concluded to ascertain that no victim was left trapped in the rubble.

The Director, Department of Development Control, Muktar Galadima on his own part stated  that his organisation had given the developer a ‘stop work’ notice when it noticed a modification of the building.

“On the 17th of this month, when our officers were moving round and monitoring developments, they noticed the modification of the building from a bungalow to a two-strorey building and he was issued a stop work notice. He, however, took advantage of the weekend and resumed work and this incident happened, and due process as well as engineering process was not followed,” he said.

Penpushing further reports that, one of the survivors, Harisu Abdullahi  said he was working on the first floor of the building when he noticed the building collapsing and he regained consciousness when he noticed he was being rushed to the hospital.