A two-storey building belonging to the Nigeria Navy collapsed on seven labourers killing two and trapping three others in Abuja on Saturday.
The building located on 45 Road, Gwarinpa Estate was being demolished when it collapsed on the workers.
The incident which happened around 10am attracted Nigeria Security and Civil Defence personnel, Federal Road Safety Officials and staff of the FCT development Control department
.Findings by our correspondent indicated that the collapse was caused by the workers who demolished the building from the ground floor instead of starting from the top floor.
As at 3pm, the rescue effort had not accomplished much as three persons were still trapped under the rubble while two had been taken to an unknown hospital.
A deputy director with development control department, Tukur Bakori, blamed the incident on the unprofessional way the demolition was being carried out, adding that his department should have been involved in the exercise.
Bakori who was at the scene told newsmen that professionals should have handled the demolition and not ordinary labourers who lacked the technical competence and experience needed for such special project.
When asked if the contractor in charge of the demolition would be sanctioned, he said it was a management issue that would be handled by the Federal Capital Development Authority.
Some Federal Housing Authority staff who were at the scene told SUNDAY PUNCH that the navy had applied for approval to demolish, but they did not wait for the approval before commencing the demolition through manual labour.
One of the FHA employees who pleaded anonymity said they visited the building site on Friday and asked the labourers to stop the demolition.
She said, “The navy applied to the FHA for approval to demolish the building because they bought it from the FHA. We were still processing the file when they went ahead with the demolition. Apparently, the person that was given the demolition contract wanted to save money so he gave the job to some boys who know nothing about demolition. The poor souls are suffering for the greed of one man.”-PUNCH
No comments:
Post a Comment