A yet-to-be-ascertained number of persons have been trapped after a building under construction caved in near the Ochanja market in Onitsha, Anambra State on Monday night.
Africa Today News, New York gathered that the building, which is meant to serve as a market on completion, collapsed at about 8 pm on Monday with some of the workers still inside the building.
The situation created panic around the area as passers-by and residents were making efforts to rescue the trapped victims from the rubble.
As of the time of filing this report on Tuesday, a source near the area said one person has been feared killed and leaving two others with varying degrees of injury, while rescue operations are still ongoing.
Read Also: Tension In Onitsha One Killed, School, Banks, Market Shutdown
The details of the incident are still sketchy.
Also, the state police spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, could not be reached for confirmation as he did not respond to enquiries sent to his telephone as of the time of filing this report.
In another report, the Nigerian Institution of Safety Engineers says it will join hands with the government to put an end to building collapse in Nigeria.
The newly-inaugurated Chairman of the Institution, Seun Faluyi, stated this while speaking with our correspondent during his investiture in Lagos State on Thursday.
Faluyi said there was a need for more advocacies in ensuring Nigerians adopt the principle of putting safety first in all they do.
The mechanical engineers stated that builders and owners of property should not compromise safety because of the rising cost of cement and other building materials, saying it would result in loss of lives and money.
He said there had been low awareness on the part of people about safety, saying “We all take it for granted thinking it is somebody else’s duty”.