By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

A one-storey building under construction at Egbu Umunem in Otolio Nnewi, Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State over the weekend collapsed, killing the builder and two of his sons.

Also trapped in the building collapse was a relative of the builder, who eye witnesses said was later rescued and rushed to St. Felix Hospital, Nnewi.

It was gathered that when officials of the Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and the Transition Committee Chairman of Nnewi North LGA, Engr. Chris Obiora arrived the scene, manual labourers were seen on rescue mission as the excavator brought to rescue the victims broke down at the site.

Addressing journalists after the dead bodies were brought out from the debris, the Anambra State Chairman of COREN, Engr. Victor Meju, said that the building collapse was as a result of poor foundation, poor concrete mixture, poor quality of materials, poor wearing cost capacity.

Others include non-conformity to standard, non-approval from relevant regulatory authorities.

He further announced seal-off of the collapse site, saying that the owner of the building, Mr. Chukwunafu Anamanjo, will be invited for questioning to aid investigation.

On his part, the Transition Committee Chairman of Nnewi North LGA, Engr. Obiora called on people to always make use of certified Engineers and other relevant personnel in the building sector, adding that monitoring teams are also important in ensuring that everything is of standard.

The Sectoral Head of COREN in charge standard of Nnewi and environs, Engr. Arinze Okwuosa, said his team observed a lot of foul plays in the course of carrying out their job and called for government intervention to forestall future occurrence.

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