Many trapped in Abuja building collapse

A four-storey building of a hotel under construction at Dape in Life Camp in Abuja collapsed on Monday, trapping an undisclosed number of labourers.

It was gathered that the building collapsed at about 4 p.m. on Monday.

Confirming the incident, a Superintendent of the Federal Fire Service, Emeribe David, who led the team of firemen to the site, said the fire service received a distress call at about 4.pm and reached the site about 15 minutes later.

David said his team joined other agencies in the operations to save the lives of the people trapped in the wreckage.

He identified some of the agencies as the FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and security agencies, among others.

He added that rescue operations at the site of the collapsed building will resume at 8.a.m. on Tuesday.

He said: “Immediately the Fire Service received the call, we were deployed to the scene with a fire truck and ambulance crew to see what we can salvage.

“We do not know the number of people that were trapped, but we will figure that out when we continue the operations in the morning.”

Also speaking, the Director-General of FEMA, Dr Abass Idris, told journalists that nine persons have so far been rescued as of 7:44 p.m.

The agencies involved in the operation closed the site at about 10 p.m., while security officials were drafted to the area.

The Star

Segun Ojo