Four-storey building collapses in Uyo, many trapped, four rescued

Many people were trapped in a four-storey building under construction that collapsed on Saturday in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

The building located on Iman Street, off Aka Road in the capital city, fell on another building next to it.

Channels Television reported eyewitnesses and residents of the area as saying the incident happened at about 6pm.

Even as four people were said to have been rescued from the collapsed structure, some of the people working inside the building were still trapped in the rubbles as of 10pm on Saturday.

Officers of the state fire service and other relevant government agencies were involved in rescue operations.

This is the first building collapse in Uyo since the Reigners Church incident in December 2016.

Building collapse is common in Nigeria’s urban centres and Saturday’s incident came weeks after another structure collapsed in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. Two persons died in the incident.

Poor enforcement of safety regulations and the use of shoddy materials have been highlighted since November last year after a high-rise building under construction collapsed in the Ikoyi district of Lagos, killing at least 45 people.

Since 2005, about 152 buildings have collapsed in Lagos, according to a South African university researcher investigating construction disasters.

President Muhammadu Buhari has called for improved construction standards, describing the frequent building collapses as “increasingly embarrassing”.