At least three persons were trapped on Wednesday when a five-storey building collapsed in Onitsha, Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria’s South-east.
The building, which was still under construction, collapsed at about 3 a.m., PREMIUM TIMES gathered.
The building was constructed within the premises of Dennis Memorial Grammar School, Onitsha, a popular secondary school in the state.
It was learnt that the building was being constructed by an association of old boys of the school to commemorate the centenary anniversary of the school.
There are speculations that the building collapsed because it was allegedly built with substandard materials in the construction.
But this newspaper could not independently confirm the speculations.
‘One person now rescued’
The Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Paul Odenigbo, confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES.
Mr Odenigbo said those trapped were workers who spent the night in the building in the hope that they would continue working there on Wednesday.
The SEMA boss said as of 7:42 p.m. on Wednesday, one of the workers was brought out of the rubbles by a rescue team at the scene of the incident.
“There’s suspicion that three workers were trapped under the building. They just rescued one person now,” he said.
“He has been taken to the hospital.”
Mr Odenigbo said the operation was still ongoing to rescue others trapped by the building.
He said the rescue team was using excavators and other materials in the operation.
The latest incident happened days after a three-storey building collapsed in Abia, another state in the South-east.
Of the five persons feared trapped by the building, at least two were said to have died as of the time of filing this report.
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