Two yet-to-be-identified persons have been confirmed dead in the two-storey building collapse that occurred at the Ekeoyibo market, Amawbia in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State, on Thursday.
Recall that the two-storey building still under construction, housing traders and shop owners suddenly collapsed at about noon on Thursday, trapping some traders and buyers.
The spokesman for the Anambra State Police Command, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the death of the two victims to our correspondent on Friday.
Ikenga said some other initially trapped victims, who were rescued from the rubbles after rescue operations were currently receiving treatment at a hospital in Amawbia.
He said, “Two persons were found dead after rescue operations were concluded. Some other trapped victims, rescued alive are still receiving treatment at the hospital.
“Rescue operations were concluded late in the night by the state emergency responders with the supervision of security operatives who maintained law and order.”
Our correspondent, who visited the scene on Friday, gathered that a toddler and her mother were among those trapped in the collapsed building.
The child was said to have crawled out of the rubbles before noon on Friday and currently receiving medical attention at a hospital in Amawbia.
“The child is currently receiving medical attention in a nearby hospital. She was spotted by onlookers and rescue team early this morning as she crawled out of the rubbles signaling that her mother was still trapped in the rubles.
“The miraculous survival of the child raised curiosity as rescue team intensified operation in search of the mother who was still trapped. It took the use of an excavator to clear the rubbles and rescue operators assisted the woman to come out of the collapsed building.
“She was rushed into a waiting medical ambulance to the hospital where officials say she is responding to treatment,” an eyewitness said.
The Amawbia building collapse came barely a month after a five-storey building collapsed at the premises of Dennis Memorial Grammar School, killing one person.
However, some traders, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH in separate interviews at the scene, said more than two persons lost their lives with several others sustaining varying degrees of injuries.
A trader, who gave his name simply as Uche said, “The building suddenly crumbled, burying some traders under the debris. It did not give any sign before it happened. More than two persons were brought out dead and several others alive during the rescue operations that lasted late in the night.
Another eyewitness, identified as Nwafor, said, “One of the persons killed was my neighbour. He was a civil defence officer. He had four children. The oldest amongst them is in Primary 4. I learnt he was in the market to buy some commodities”.
Reacting to the development, the Head of Development Control in Awka Capital Development Agency, ACTDA, Charles Ekwunife, attributed the incessant building collapse in the state to negligence and use of substandard materials.
In a related development, officials of the Awka Capital Territory Development Agency had sealed off the popular Eke Oyibo Market in Amawbia in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State, following the two-storey building collapse at the market.
The Head Development Control of ACTDA, Charles Ekwunife, led the team that sealed off the section of the market on Friday.
