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The Abia State government has confirmed that five persons died in a building collapse that occurred at Obingwu, Ukwa West LGA of the state, last week.
This is even as it has declared a manhunt for the building contractor, who has not been seen after the incident.
The Commissioner for Information and Culture, Okey Kanu made this known in a press release he signed on Monday, noting that all the state government agencies and departments involved in emergency services expeditiously mobilized evacuation facilities to the scene of the incident, adding that members of Obingwu community also joined in the rescue operation.
“Most unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the rescue teams, all five persons trapped under the rubble of the collapsed building were brought out dead.
Kanu said preliminary reports have attributed the building collapse to the possible usage of substandard building materials and poor supervision of work at the site.
“The Abia State government has ordered a full-scale investigation into the remote and immediate causes of the building collapse. Also, the Mayor of Ukwa West is working with the Nigeria Police in the local government to affect the arrest of the building contractor who is yet to be seen since the incident took place as his arrest will enhance the process of the investigations”, said the Commissioner.
While commiserating with the members of the bereaved families, the Abia State government advised those in the building industry to always adhere to the best practices in terms of quality of materials and supervision in their building activities.
