NO fewer than 21 persons yesterday escaped death by the whiskers after a two-storey building under construction collapsed.It was alleged that substandard
materials used in the construction of the building which occurred at
Mater Misericordae Hospital Afikpo, Ebonyi State, was responsible for
the collapsed. The collapsed building is allegedly owned by the Catholic Church.
Vanguard gathered that that no
life was lost in the incident, but some workers including labourers,
masons sustained various degrees of injuries and are now receiving
treatment in the hospital.
Recounting his ordeal, one of
the workers, Mr. Francis Eluu said, “I was in the building with the
concrete I was carrying on the head when I started hearing sound then I
ran for my dear life but before I could escaped, rubble fell on my back
and injured me seriously. So, out 21 of us working at the site, seven
sustained serious injuries while others escaped.”
Another eyewitness (name
withheld), told Vanguard that the cause of the collapsed building was
yet to be ascertained, but claimed the building materials used were not
of high quality, saying “if you look at the building you will know that
sand was more than the cement and the irons are smaller than the
building.”
When Vanguard visited the site,
there was an excavator machine removing the debris of the collapsed
building from the site as people around the hospital expressed fear that
another two storey building being erected by the same contractor might
also collapse because according them, the contractor could have used the
similar substandard material on the building.
Efforts to speak with the Rev. Father in-charge of the hospital, Fr. Charles Otu proved abortive.