By Jude Atupulazi
The number of casualties in the recent building collapse in Onitsha has continued to rise, with unconfirmed reports as at Wednesday morning putting the total at nine people dead.
This comes as the Anambra State Emergency Management Agency, Tuesday confirmed the death of six people in the building collapse incident that occurred in the commercial city of Onitsha on Monday.
According to the agency, about 20 other people were rescued from the rubble of the collapsed building. Most of them sustained various levels of injuries and are currently receiving treatment at a nearby hospital around the market.
‘About six bodies recovered from the rubble have been deposited at the morgue, while those who sustained varying degrees of injuries were taken to the nearby hospital for medical attention, rescue efforts are still ongoing,’ SEMA officials said in a statement released on Tuesday.
The Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, had visited the Ochanja building site in the commercial city of Onitsha to inspect the extent of damages and cause of the incident.
While at the scene, the governor promised that he would ensure that the victims of the collapsed building received help.
The collapsed three-storey building, still under construction, which was meant to serve as a market on completion, collapsed at about 8 pm on Monday, while some of the workers and traders were still in the building.
Soludo who was visibly angry at the scene said he was not aware that the construction of the building was going on at the market.
He said, ‘When investigations are completed, the developer, the chairman of the market and every other person involved in the disaster, will be prosecuted and jailed.
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‘The remaining building under construction by the same developer near the collapsed one will be demolished immediately after rescue operations on the site have been completed.’
Soludo also stated that any construction in any market in Anambra State without his express approval would be demolished while vowing that every other existing building must pass through an integrity test.
Also, the Commissioner for Special Duties, Beverly Ikpeazu-Nkemdiche, also mourned the victims of the collapse and assured the families that the state government would make sure that no one who was culpable in the disaster went unpunished.
The governor was joined on the visit by top government officials, where he ordered that more excavators be brought to the site of the collapse to help in the rescue operations.
As of the time of filing this report, rescue operations were still ongoing to search for more trapped victims in the rubble.
