A two-storey building under construction has collapsed opposite the Asaba International Airport.
The building, a hotel, located opposite Asaba Airport Police Station, Okpanam, collapsed following persistent downpour. The incident has caused serious panic among residents in the area.
Eyewitnesses revealed that some of the trapped workers have been rescued while the search for others continued on Thursday.
Although there is no report of loss of lives, it was gathered that some of the workers jumped from the building into other compounds around the building at the time of the incidence.
It was gathered that the workers had finished the second storey and were moving to the parapet when the building collapsed.
A source, a security man, disclosed that some workers sustained injuries in the process of trying to escape for their lives.
The security man who escaped by the whiskers, having left just few minutes before the collapse, revealed that work was ongoing before the building collapsed. According to him, the building was being rushed by the owner due to the constant rains.
According to one of the workers who simply identified himself as David, several workers were injured while jumping from the second floor of the building to escape being trapped while few others successfully escaped unhurt.
David disclosed that those who sustained wounds had been rushed to the hospital for medical treatment.
He added, “As we talk, everybody has left the site and you know for fear of police arrest, some of the people in charge of the building have gone into hiding.
“Some persons around the estate actually came to assist in the rescue of victims during the collapse of the building.”;
When contacted for comments, the state Commissioner for Urban Renewal, Engr Michael Anoka, did not respond to calls and messages put across to his phone as at the time of filing in this report.
