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By Chuks Eke
Anambra state government has ordered a complete demolition and forfeiture of the land of the three-storey building that collapsed at Okpoko in Ogbaru Local Government Area of the the on Wednesday and killed a mother and her daughter.
Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Chijioke Ojukwu who made the order when he visited the scene alongside the member representing Ogbaru One Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly, Noble Igwe, described the incident as unfortunate.
Ojukwu who blamed the collapsed structure on the use of substandard material, noted that a “stop-work notice” had earlier been issued on the building but the owner defied the government order and continued with the building.
According to Ojukwu, “The structure was an illegal building and we had ordered it’s demolition and the land is going to be forfeited to the state government. We are investigating other unapproved buildings under construction in the area”.
The Commissioner added: “It collapsed under the weight of negligence and poor qualify construction. It fell over and killed the residents of a neighbouring bungalow, a woman and her child”.
The building located at Anata Anaba area of Okpoko had suddenly collapsed and killed a mother and her daughter.
Eye witnesses said the building, which was still under construction, collapsed at about 9:45pm on Wednesday, trapping the mother and her 14-year-old daughter, who were in their apartment in a nearby bungalow at the time of the incident.
The building, was said to have caved in suddenly, thereby sending panic across the vicinity as it made a loud noise before coming down to rubbles.
The eyewitnesses in the area confirmed that some other people who were also trapped in the rubble were later rescued and rushed to add nearby hospital for urgent medical attention.
“The woman and her daughter were in their apartment in nearby bungalow when the three-storey building collapsed and trapped them. Before the building caved in, it made a loud noise as the walls started making cracking noise before falling one after the other”.
“Some other people who were also trapped in the rubble were later rescued and rushed to the hospital by emergency response team who mobilised to the scene to evacuate victims.”
Some residents who spoke, said they had earlier raised concerns over the construction, stating that the land is waterlogged and unsuitable for a three-storey structure.
According to them, the engineer who initially commenced the project had advised the builder to stop at two storeys because of the condition of the ground, but the advice was not heeded.
The residents further stated that another engineer was later engaged to continue the construction to three storeys which unfortunately collapsed killing the landlady of a nearby bungalow and her last child.
The son of the deceased, identified as Chimobi said three members of the family were in the apartment when the building collapsed.
“I was outside at the time of the incident. But my mother and my sister were in the bedroom when the building collapsed directly on them, leaving them with no opportunity to escape.
“Its unfortunate. We had earlier warned the builder about the danger posed by the structure and we were joined by other residents in calling for the construction to be stopped, but our concerns were not heeded,” he lamented.
