One dead, more trapped as hotel building falls in Enugu

At least one person died in Enugu State on Sunday after a four-storey hotel building that was being built partially collapsed.

The incident happened around 5 a.m. in the Independence Layout area.

Apart from the dead victim, others were feared trapped under the rubble.

Uche Anya, the chairman of the Enugu Capital Territory Development Agency (ECTDA), spoke to reporters at the scene. He said four people trapped in the rubble were rescued but one person died.

“This property collapsed in the early hours of the morning. We arrived here around 6 a.m. When we got here, one of the security men said six people were sleeping in the unfinished building, but one was not around when it happened.

“The government emergency services came, and we started the rescue operations. Four people are currently in the hospital receiving treatment,” he said.

Mr Anya, who is a lawyer, said the property owner got approval to build the structure in 2021. But he added that the ECTDA recently sealed the site after the developer did not follow building codes.

“When I led the team that inspected here, we found serious integrity issues and non-compliance with their 2021 approval.

“I issued the first ‘stop work order,’ which led to our sealing the place for the last six months.

“Recently, the owner’s representative, who they say lives abroad, has been trying to fix the situation,” he remembered.

“This is the process we are still trying to work on, and it collapsed.”

Mr Anya said he has given the representative to the police in Enugu State to help with the investigation into the incident.

“I handed the representative to the police, not for detention, but to assist in the investigation. But this is a very unfortunate situation,” he said.

Okwudiri Oha, the Director of the Enugu State Fire Service, also spoke to reporters. He praised various agencies for helping in the rescue operation.

“As a rescue officer, we asked the security man how many people were here. He said there were supposed to be six. One person left before it happened.

“So, we managed to rescue four persons. Two of them had minor injuries and were taken to a health facility for checks,” Mr Oha said.

Ezeani Nnanyelugo, the Information Officer of the National Emergency Management Agency, confirmed the number of victims. He noted that the situation could have been worse if the state government had not sealed the site earlier.

Chinasa Mbah, the Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Authority, said that while five people were reportedly present at the time of the collapse, the entire wreckage would be dug through to ensure that no one was left behind.

“We are going to excavate everything because you can see the machines that the government brought. We will dig through everything to make sure no survivor or body is left,” she said.