TWO FEARED DEAD, 10 INJURED IN ABUJA BUILDING COLLAPSED

The Director, Department of Development Control in Abuja Muthar Galadima, said “It is really unfortunate, the building collapsed and people are trapped. To my observations one could see some compromise in use of materials”,

He, however, noted that it was his personal views which is subject to professional tests,adding that, “the building has been abandoned for more than 15 years, and the owner of the building just mobilised contractors to continue with the project.

‘ I would like to go back and cross check whether an approval for them to resume work was granted and to find out if some integrity test was fully conducted which I cannot confirm at the moment. Further details and investigation on who is doing what and who has done what would be conducted soon.”

The Director General of FEMA, Abbas Idris described the incident as unfortunate and blamed structural lapses for the collapse, stressing that, “we always tell builders to build according to the plan and within a defined time frame’.

‘It is not our fault because we always move around in search of abandoned buildings like this. And if you abandon a building for a while, you have to carry out an integrity test, get development control before you continue the work.”

Penpushing further gathered at the scene that about fifty people were working there, as at the time of the report, and it was learnt that, those injured already taken to the hospital for medication