Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, has confirmed the death of one person following a building collapse in a section of a storey building under construction behind CITEC Estate along Airport Road in Abuja.
The victim is simply identified as Mr Oliver, a carpenter at the site of the collapsed building.
He , has since been deposited as the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, Abuja, by the Search and Rescue team of FEMA.
Briefing newsmen in Abuja, the Director General(FEMA) Alh. Idriss Abbas, said he had always emphasized the need for construction workers and residents to desist from sleeping on construction sites as it is risky .
According to him ‘ the fact that a building is under construction does not make it safe because you might not know the details behind the construction or if the developer adhered to regulations of property development’ he said.
Saddened by the incident Alh. Idriss appealed to developers to desist from practices that could lead to loss of lives and always consider lives and properties first before embarking on any construction projects in and around the FCT
While sympathizing with the family of the Victim, Alh. Idriss revealed that the site has been sealed and work stopped to avoid further loss of life, as we await investigations to ascertain the cause of the collapse.
According to him “we still observed signs of cracks on the the walls of the remaining session of the construction and have gone ahead to move several others found on the site to safe places, to avert more losses” he added
He commended the Search and Rescue team and other responders for their gallant efforts through out the night and morning of the incident period.
