Tragedy struck Enugu yesterday when an uncompleted four-storey hotel building collapsed at Independence Layout, leaving one person dead and four others injured.
The building, reportedly comprising more than 100 rooms, had risen to the fourth floor when part of the structure suddenly collapsed in the early hours, trapping workers who were lodging at the site.
One of the workers was reportedly asleep on a bench inside the compound when the building came down. He was subsequently discovered dead.
The collapse also caused extensive damage to the section of the structure that remained standing, heightening concerns that more people might have been trapped under the debris.
However, the prompt response of emergency officials helped prevent a more serious disaster, as four people were rescued alive from the rubble and transported to the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital for medical attention.
According to media reports, as of yesterday afternoon, rescue efforts were continuing, with four excavators provided by the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA) deployed to clear the rubble in search of possible survivors or further victims.
Speaking at the scene, the Executive Chairman of ECTDA, Uche Anya, said the incident involved a developer who allegedly disregarded building regulations.
Anya explained that the property was approved in 2021, before the present administration, but later inspections uncovered what he described as serious structural integrity problems and deviations from the approved plans.
According to him, the agency had issued a stop-work directive and sealed the premises about six months ago over the identified violations.
“This property collapsed in the early hours of the morning. We arrived here around 6:00 a.m. We met one of the securitymen, who said that six people slept in the uncompleted property, but one of them was not around when the incident occurred.
“The government emergency services arrived, and we started rescue operations. Four people, right now, are in the hospital receiving treatment. I believe there could be one more person in there, and that is why you see all this rescue effort ongoing.”
Anya disclosed that he personally supervised a previous inspection of the building, where the agency discovered what he termed “serious integrity issues” and violations of the 2021 approval.
He further disclosed that the owner’s representative, who is said to reside abroad, had been communicating with the agency in recent weeks over efforts to correct the violations.
The official disclosed that the owner’s representative had also been transferred to the police to aid investigations into the building collapse.
“This is really a very unfortunate situation,” he added.
Also addressing journalists at the scene, the Director of the Enugu State Fire Service, Okwudiri Oha, praised the joint response involving the Red Cross, Enugu State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), ECTDA, Enugu State Ambulance Services, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and other emergency personnel.
Oha disclosed that rescue personnel initially determined that six people were expected to be at the location, although one of them had departed before the building collapsed.
He said four individuals were rescued at first, with two suffering minor injuries, while another person was subsequently retrieved from the debris.
NEMA Information Officer in Enugu, Ezeani Nnanyelugo, confirmed that four survivors had been conveyed to hospital and stabilised, while one corpse had been recovered.
He said the incident could have resulted in more casualties, pointing out that the site had earlier been sealed by the state government.
The Executive Secretary of SEMA, Chinasa Mbah, said rescue personnel would continue clearing the entire location to establish that no one remained trapped beneath the rubble.
