Three-storey Building Collapses In Enugu

A three-storey building under construction at No
16 Nnobi Street, Uwani, Enugu collapsed on
Saturday.
No casualty had been recorded at the incident. Some of the witnesses who spoke to reporters
said that they heard a heavy sound as well as
people shouting at the early hours of the
morning.
One of the witnesses, Mr Chukwuebuka
Okonkwo, said that when he heard the bang around 5.30 a.m., he ran out with the
members of his family. “When I heard the sound and people
shouting, I thought that it was a bomb blast
and I asked members of my family to run for
safety. “When I came out I saw that it was the
uncompleted building near my house that
was collapsing,’’ he said. Another witness, Miss Kanayo Enemkpali, said
she was shocked that a building nearing
completion could collapse in such a manner. Enemkpali thanked God that no life was lost in
the incident. Reacting to the development, the
Commissioner for Land and Urban
Development, Dr Chukwuemeka Ujam, said
that government did not give approval for the
building of the house. According to him, there is a design for this
area and the height design of the building
exceeded the design. “The maximum height of the building here is
three-storeys and the owner exceeded the
approval. “We stopped the work on several occasions
but we discovered that they chose to build at
night to beat government’s order. “I hope this serves as a deterrent to others
who disobey government’s orders,’’ he said. In his remarks, the Commissioner for Enugu
Capital Territory Development,
Mr Ikechukwu Ugwuegede, said that
government would commence full
investigations into the incident. He said the investigation would unravel if
professionals and standard materials were
used in the project. “We will identify all the people involved
including the owner, the contractor and
architect in the investigation because from all
indication, it is a clear case of structural
defect,’’ he said. Ugwuegde said that his officers had not seen
the owner of the building as all efforts to
reach him failed. A construction company, Arab Contractors, and
the state Fire Service were already on ground
to remove the debris. [NAN]