The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Collapsed building

  • Man, 52, rescued from collapsed building

    The Kano State Fire Service yesterday morning rescued a 52-year-old, Mohammed Zakiru, from a collapsed duplex at Kofar Na’isa Quarters in Kano.

    He sustained serious injuries.

    The spokesman, Saidu Mohammed, said Zakiru got trapped in the building in the early hours of the day.

    He said: “We received a distress call today (yesterday) from Musa Muhammed, who lives in the neighbourhood, about 6.45 am, that a building had collapsed and we sent our rescue team and a vehicle to the scene about 7.20 am.”

    According to him, Zakiru was rushed to Murtala Mohammed Teaching Hospital.

  • Two killed, 20 trapped in Abuja collapsed building

    Two persons were killed and 20 others trapped after a four-storey uncompleted building collapsed unexpectedly yesterday at Jabi in Abuja.

    The building stood opposite Panda Shopping Mall before it gave way at about 1.30 pm.

    Rescue workers were able to retrieve the corpses from the rubble a few hours after the incident yesterday.

    The building was affected by vibration and shrapnel  during Boko Haram’s bombing of nearby Thisday Newspapers Office in 2012.

    Officials of the Federal Fire Service, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and volunteers raced to the scene to lend the victims a helping hand.

    Once news of the building collapse hit the waves ,a large crowd gathered round the area while vehicular traffic around the area also assumed a chaotic dimension.

    The situation was not helped by a downpour.

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo was at the scene  yesterday to personally assess the situation.

    He described  the accident as unfortunate  and said  that all relevant public agencies had mobilized there for effective rescue.

    He commiserated with bereaved families  and those injured during the collapse.

    He was accompanied by FCT Minister Muhammad Bello and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha.

  • Collapsed building : Synagogue has case to answer, says court

    Collapsed building : Synagogue has case to answer, says court

    THE  Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN ) has a case to answer over the six-storey building which collapsed on its premises in 2014, a Lagos High Court ruled yesterday.

    Justice Lateef Lawa-Akapo held that the no-case submission filed by the church’s registered trustees and two engineers,  Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun, lacked merit.

    He fixed April 27 for the defence to open its case.

    Ogundeji and Fatiregun, through their firms Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Ltd, allegedly built the  structure, which collapsed on September 12, 2014, killing 116 people.

    They are facing a 110-count charge of involuntary manslaughter preferred against them by the  state government.

    The state also preferred a one-count charge of building without approval against trustees.

    The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Ms P. K. Shitta-Bey, said the defendants violated Section 75 of the Urban and Regional Planning Law of Lagos State 2010,  and  Section 222 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

    The defendants were arraigned on April 19, 2016.

    They pleaded not guilty.

    The prosecution subsequently opened its case.

    Rather than open their defence, the defendants entered a ‘no-case’ submission. They contended that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against them and urged the court to quash the charge.

  • Three storey building collapses in Ilorin

    Three storey building collapses in Ilorin

    Three people have been injured as a four storey building under construction unexpectedly collapsed Friday on Sulu Gambari Road, Ilorin, Kwara State.

    The building was to be used as hotel.

    It collapsed at about 11am leaving three persons; all of them site workers, injured.

    They were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.

  • Developers of Lagos collapsed building faces prosecution for unsealing stop work order

    Developers of Lagos collapsed building faces prosecution for unsealing stop work order

    The developers of the three- storeyed building which collapsed in Ilasamaja on Thursday criminally unsealed a stop work order on the building and continued construction before eventual collapse, the Lagos State Government has said.

    Speaking to journalists after an on the spot assessment of the collapsed site, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Tpl. Wasiu Anifowose, said the building in question was disapproved by officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), but the developers illegally broke the seal to continue work.

    Anifowose said officers in charge of that area had two weeks before the collapse disapproved the development because it was being built contrary to building regulations.

    “This particular building had been monitored and had been sealed off. Our officers had come back to monitor for compliance but they were prevented by hoodlums from carrying out their statutory responsibilities

    “Yesterday, before the collapse, our officials were there again but were chased back to the office to reinforce when this tragedy happened.

    “We had actually served all the necessary statutory stop work notices and this is evident in our records that the building was sealed off but this developer broke the seal twice and continued with the illegal development and this is the result of the illegality,” the Commissioner said.

    He added that building had been sealed off on account of the evidence that the materials found on site were substandard, aside the fact that the developers had no development permit to embark on the construction.

    Anifowose said the state government was unhappy with the rate of illegal developments within the state, adding: “Despite deploying officers to monitor development to prevent such ugly occurrences, some wicked, irresponsible and unscrupulous developers still carryout nefarious illegality.

    “Once a building is sealed off, the seal should not be broken. It is dangerous and is a criminal offence punishable under the building control law,” he said.

    Already, Anifowose said the state government has swung into full investigation of the matter and would not hesitate to employ the full weight of the law to deal decisively with any unscrupulous developer who violates the law.

    He, however, enjoined all property owners and developers to employ the services of qualified professionals before embarking on any form of development in the state.

  • Nine for trial over Lekki collapsed building

    Nine persons are to be tried for the March 8 Lekki collapsed building in which 30 died, lagos State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General Adeniji Kazeem said yesterday.

    A statement signed by the commissioner said his office has concluded its legal advice and is ready for trial.

    “Following the conclusion of investigation by the police and technical reports of relevant experts, my office has concluded its legal advice and decided to prosecute the suspects for failure to obtain planning permit contrary to the provisions of the Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law, Ch. CU2 and Involuntary manslaughter contrary to the provisions of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Ch. C17, Laws of Lagos State, 2015 respectively,” the statement said.

    The names of those to be tried were not given.

  • Updated summary of casualties of collapsed church building

    Updated summary of casualties of collapsed church building

    Total deaths 26.

    Patients in the hospitals 168.

    Total out patients are 50.

     

    Nine hospitals have the following patients.

    UUTH, 28 patients;

    Ibom Specialist Hospital Uyo, 70 patients;

    Sifon Clinic, 9 patients;

    Lifecare clinic, 24 patients;

    Premiers clinic, 9 patients;

    St Lukes Hospital, 22 patients;

    Gateway Medical Centre, 2 patients;

    Uwah Mfon Clinic, 1 patient.

    First Line Clinic, 1 patient.

    Alma Clinic and Surgery, 2 patients

    Total in patients, 168

  • Two still trapped in collapsed building, says FEMA

    Two still trapped in collapsed building, says FEMA

    •Fashola: we’ll probe accident

    Two people are still trapped in the rubbles of the collapsed building in Abuja yesterday, it was learnt.

    A spokesman of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Josie Mudasiru, said search and rescue work was on.

    Six labourers were pulled out when a section of a hotel under construction collapsed about 1.45 am on Sunday.

    The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, directed the Development Control Department of the FCT Administration to take responsibility for building plan approvals and construction supervision in accordance with extant regulations.

    In a statement by Deputy Director/Chief Press Secretary Muhammad Sule, the minister said in line with  Section 7, (1-3) of the FCT Act of 1976 and Part II, Section 27-41 of the Nigeria Urban and Regional Planning Law of 1992, amended in 1999, no person or body can carry out any development within the FCT without the written approval of the FCT Department of Development Control.

    Bello said the department should ensure that the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), which approved and was supervising the collapsed building, and other stakeholders, adhere to regulations on property development.

    He added that the FCT Administration will no longer ignore construction of buildings on flood plains, and will take measures to correct the anomalies.

    While sympathising with the victims, the minister said human lives often lost in such tragedies could be avoided if regulations were followed.

    He said his administration would not watch the wanton waste of lives; stressing that human life is sacred and must be protected.

    Minister of Works, Power and Housing Babatunde Fashola, who visited the site yesterday, said investigation has begun to ascertain the causes of the collapse to forestall a recurrence.

    Fashola, who noted that the accident could be as a result of poor quality control, lack of professionalism, negligence of duty, said the ministry would wait for the result of the investigation.

    “Investigations have begun to get to the root of what caused the collapse but clearly, something failed somewhere

    “It is important that we visit the site, search and rescue operations are still on and it is believed that some people are still trapped inside,” he said.

     

  • Confusion at Oko Poly over collapsed building

    There was confusion yesterday at the Federal Polytechnic in Oko, Anambra State, following the collapse of a two-storey building at the school’s extension.

    While some students said the building collapsed though without any casualty, the school management said such incident did not occur.

    Students, who spoke with our reporter, said the Public Administration building, which was at the roofing stage, collapsed in the early hours of yesterday.

    But the management claimed that a part of the building was deliberately pulled down when structural defects were noticed.

    Security agencies barricaded the road to the extension site to prevent people from accessing the place.

    Students, whose departments were located in the area, were advised to stay away.

    Efforts to see the affected building were rebuffed by the polytechnic’s security outfit, led by the chief Security Officer (CSO), who insisted that nobody would enter the site.

    Also, the school’s Rector, Prof. Godwin Onu, could not be reached for comments on the incident.

    The Deputy Rector in charge of Administration, Ejike Nwabuona, insisted that no building collapsed at the polytechnic.

    Nwabuona addressed reporters in company of the institution’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Obini Onuchukwu.

    He said: “Following the recent collapse of five buildings at Nwagu, Amaokpla and Ekwulobia, all around Oko town, the management of Oko Polytechnic decided to engage the services of building materials testing consultants to test all completed and ongoing buildings in the institution.”

    Nwabuona also said the area was known for having weak soil, making Oko and its neighbouring communities prone to gully erosion.

    He added: “In the course of the exercise, our engineer discovered that part of the Public Administration building had defects and the management decided to pull down the affected part for correction and fortification.

    “The present management of the polytechnic has completed 13 gigantic buildings and all of them are in perfect condition and ready for inauguration. It is, therefore, not true that any building had collapsed at Oko Poly.”

    Yesterday’s incident at the polytechnic was the second in less than two months.

     

  • Three die in Anambra collapsed building

    Three die in Anambra collapsed building

    Three persons died yesterday when a two-storey building under construction collapsed at Ndiagu in Ogidi community Idemili, in North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

    Four others, who were among the injured, were reportedly taken to Iyi Enu Hospital at Ogidi. They were said to be in critical conditions last night.

    The building reportedly caved in at 8 a.m.

    A source in the community told our reporter that the three victims died on the spot, while the injured were taken to the hospital.

    It was gathered that the building collapsed while many people were near it.

    Those who rushed to the scene and assisted the rescue operation included Police Commissioner Hosea Karma and the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) for Ogidi, Mr Hassan Musa.

    Karma, who described the death of the artisans as “unfortunate and untimely”, urged the residents to take heart.

    He prayed for the repose of the souls of the dead.

    The police chief said the bodies of the deceased had been deposited at Iyi-Enu Hospital’s morgue.

    President-General of Ogidi community, Chief Chuka Onubogu, attributed the building collapse to the use of substandard materials.

    Onubogu urged contractors and those involved in building projects to ensure that genuine materials were used.

    A source said a rescue team was battling on the site of the incident at the time of filing this report last night.

    Contacted, the state’s Vice Chairman of Nigeria Red Cross, Prof Peter Katchy, said he had a report on the incident but had not confirmed the details.

    The Red Cross chief pledged to call other officials to ascertain the casualty figure as well as the number of the injured.

    Efforts to speak with the police were unsuccessful.

    The command’s spokesman Ali Okechukwu did not answer the calls to his mobile phone at the time of filing this report last night.