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Okey Sampson, Aba
Barely 48 hours after an uncompleted three-storey building collapsed in Aba, Abia State, injuring many, another has collapsed, killing one person and leaving another seriously injured.
The incident which occurred at Old Express, off Sameck Junction, by Faulks Road, in Aba, caused anguish and fear in residents.
Residents who spoke to our correspondent said the building collapsed due to the persistent flooding of the area, which might have weakened the foundation of the building.
It was gathered that one tenant died while trying to escape as the building was going down while another who was said to be eating at the time of the incident, was trapped inside the rubble for several hours but was miraculously saved as he reportedly phoned his relatives to inform them that he was under the collapsed building and was dying, which helped rescuers to locate him in the debris.
Some of those who spoke about the incident said they saw the collapse of building coming due to its dilapidated condition.
They alleged that even the wife of the late owner of the building had sometime ago warned some tenants to vacate the house but the warnings fell on deaf ears.
Reports said the deceased tenant, a father of three, had almost escaped from the building before part of the fence collapsed on him.
“The man that died inside, from what we learnt, was held back by his wife not to go in, but he eventually found his way into the building after he said that their was money that he wanted to use for something urgent trapped in there.
“He made it alive, but while he was running out of the building, part of the fence fall on him, before help could come his way, other blocks had already collapsed on him and he died,” said a witness.
He said that another person trapped inside was a motorcycle operator who came inside the collapsed building to have a rest.
