THREE-STOREY BUILDING COLLAPSES NEAR ANAMBRA ASSEMBLY, WORKERS FEARED TRAPPED

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By Aishat Momoh. O.

A three-storey building with four suspended floors under construction collapsed on Thursday morning behind the Anambra State House of Assembly, off Ekwueme Square, Okpuno Awka, throwing residents and passers-by into panic.

The structure, which was at the roofing stage, caved in suddenly around 11:40 am, reportedly trapping an unspecified number of construction workers and occupants under the rubble.

Eyewitnesses said the building collapsed without prior warning while artisans were working on the roof. “The building made some noise as it was going down. Some workers were inside when it happened, but the exact number is still unknown,” one witness said.

Rescue efforts were initially hampered by a lack of equipment such as excavators, leaving bystanders and passers-by attempting to dig through the debris with limited resources.

The Chairman of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN-ERM), Anambra State, Sir Victor Meju, who visited the site, confirmed that preliminary investigations pointed to poor concrete mixture and possible foundation issues as causes of the collapse.

“It was a five-storey building, with the sixth floor still under construction at the roofing stage. On-site preliminary investigation revealed that it was a vertical complete collapse to the rubble,” Meju explained.

He added that the Ministry of Housing and the Awka Capital Territory Development Authority had been notified and were on the ground to oversee rescue and monitoring operations.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Anambra State Police Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, said he was yet to receive an official briefing but promised to provide updates after making enquiries.

As of press time, casualty figures had not been confirmed, while emergency officials continued to assess the scene.