Building collapse: How 21 persons narrowly escaped death

DESPITE repeated warnings by the Federal Government that construction of buildings in the country should be done according to standard,  records of building collapse have remained on the increase. In Ebonyi State, no fewer than 21 persons last week escaped death by whiskers when a two-storey building under construction collapsed.
The ugly incident which occurred in Mater Misericordae Hospital, Afikpo, according to reports made available to Vanguard Metro,VM, was due to the substandard materials used in the construction of the building allegedly owned by the Catholic Church in the area.
VM gathered that no life was lost as a result of the collapse but some workers, including labourers and masons sustained various degrees of injuries and are now receiving treatment in the hospital. Recounting his ordeal, Mr. Francis Eluu said: “I was in the building with the concrete I was carrying on my head when I started hearing sounds from the building.  I ran for my dear life but as I was trying to escape,  one of the rubbles fell on my back and I was seriously injured. So, out 21 of us working at the site, seven sustained serious injuries while others escaped”.
Another eyewitness (name withheld) told VM that the cause of the building collapse was yet to be determined but pointed out that the type of building materials used were not of high quality. “If you look at the building, you will know that sand was more than the cement and the irons are small for this type of  building,” he said.

The dangerously dangling wreckage of the collapsed building.

When VM visited the scene, an excavator was seen removing the debris of the collapsed building from the site. Some residents of the neighbourhood expressed fears that another two-storey building being erected by the same contractor, might also collapse because, according to them, the contractor might have also used similar substandard materials in the construction.
All efforts to speak with the Rev. Father in-charge of the hospital, Fr. Charles Otu proved abortive. Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Nigeria Society of Engineers, NSE, Ebonyi State chapter, Mr. Nwali Etche had threatened to drag  the contractors and engineers that handled the construction of the collapsed building at Mater Miserecondia Hospital in Afikpo to court. He said if found guilty,  they would be jailed.
Mr. Etche stated this after inspecting  the site of the collapsed building. According to him, preliminary reports by the NSE suggest that the collpase  occurred due to poor quality work executed by the contractors.
He said: “We didn’t see anybody when we got there except the patients.  Both the hospital administrator and contractor bolted away. We only saw a few patients when we got there. We gave the administrator up till close of work today to report to our office. We also asked him to bring along certain things like the design of the building, approval of work certificate and the contractor’s identity. “If he fails to do so at the end of work today, then we shall report him to the appropriate authorities.
“The NSE cannot blame anybody for the collapse until it has got all the necessary data in line with our procedure. If the collapse is due to natural disaster, then we can’t blame anybody but if it is mechanical, then we will find out if it is the engineer’s fault or that of the contractor, supervisor or designer,” he said.
On the likely punishment, he said:  “The punishment varies:  If you are an engineer, you will be banned from practicing and go in for seven years imprisonment. If it is the contractor’s fault, we will take him to court and if someone dies, it is life imprisonment”.
In his reaction, the Commissioner for Information in the state, Mr. Chike Onwe, called on landowners, builders, engineers and contractors to ensure that buildings under their care were constructed according to  modern standards.
He charged them to avoid the purchase of low quality and substandard building materials both in and outside the state, adding that what should reside in the minds of any builder was the safety and longevity of a building during and after construction.