Scene of the collapsed building |
Contrary to reports that Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom was yet to arrive at the venue of a church building collapse in Uyo today, News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that the Governor was at the church but escaped unhurt as the
Reigners Bible Church International building in Uyo collapsed during a
worship session.
The governor was the special guest of honour at the consecration
service of the Founder of the church, Apostle Akan Weeks, as bishop.
NAN reports that the Reigners Bible
Church International building, situated on Uyo Village Road, was still
under construction when it collapsed.
Its iron rafters caved in as the service was ongoing.
A witness told NAN that the building collapsed 30 minutes after the governor arrived.
‘’When we were about taking offering, 30 minutes after the governor
came in, the building caved in. Security operatives took him away,’’ he
said.
When NAN correspondents visited the scene, security operatives had
cordoned off the entire building while trying to rescue those trapped in
the debris.
Another witness, Uduak Effiong, told NAN that a female victim’s bowel was ripped open by the tragedy.
Ms. Effiong, who is a communication arts student of the University of Uyo, said that she lost three friends to the incident.
Joseph James, who also witnessed the building collapse, told NAN that
the Founder of the church, Akan Weeks, was also brought out unhurt.
Some rescue team members said that over 60 casualties had been removed from the debris.
However, the state Police Public Relation Officer, ASP Cordelia
Nwawe, said that she could not confirm the casualty figure since rescue
operations were ongoing.
She said that security operatives had been drafted to maintain law
and order at the scene to prevent hoodlums from cashing in on the
situation.
“Rescue team members are trying their best to rescue all the victims trapped inside the collapsed building.
‘’We cannot tell you the exact number of casualties now as the rescue operations are on,’’ she said.
The rescue team at scene is made up of workers of Julius Berger
Construction Company, the police, army, Fire Service, Nigeria Security
and Civil Defence Corps, Nigerian Medical Association and the Federal
Road Safety Corps.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
PLEASE BE POLITE