Four people have been rescued from the rubble of a collapsed four-storey building in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
The building, which was supposed to be a six-storey building, collapsed on Saturday while contractors were on the fourth floor.
“Four persons (have been) rescued and taken to the hospital,” according to a statement shared around 9 p.m. on Saturday by the Commissioner for Information in Akwa Ibom State, Ini Ememobong.
Rescue operation was still going on, according to the statement.
The Fire Service and security agencies were said to be leading the rescue effort, with technical support from construction companies, Julius Berger, and another company.
“(The) Secretary to State Government, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, the Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr. Bassey Okon and other Government officials are at the scene,” the statement said.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how residents, who gathered in large numbers around the scene of the collapsed structure, appeared unable to help the situation.
Some of them took to Facebook to post photos and videos of the incident, while appealing to the authorities to act quickly in order to save lives.
The Fire Service arrived at the scene around 7:50 p.m, but could not rescue those trapped since they did not have an excavator, a popular Akwa Ibom radio presenter, Mc Governor, told PREMIUM TIMES.
“From what I am seeing here, it doesn’t seem that the materials used for the construction of the building were okay,” the radio presenter said on Facebook live feeds.
“Look at the rod, 8mm, used in constructing a six-storey building! Now, lives have been lost”.
Many people were killed in Uyo in 2016 when a church building collapsed in Uyo.
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