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From Obinna Odogwu, Ekwulobia
A four-storey building nearing completion, yesterday, collapsed in Oko community, in Orumba North Government Area of Anambra State, killing three persons and injuring one. The tragedy happened at about 4am.
According to residents of the area, the rear end of the building earlier collapsed in the afternoon after a heavy downpour. Another part of the building, suspected to be a private hostel for students of Federal Polytechnic, Oko, collapsed in the wee hours, killing some people sleeping there.
One of the residents, Ifeoma, said that one of the workers had warned his colleagues not to pass the night in the building.
Said she: “I heard him warning them not to sleep in the building since a section of the building had collapsed, but they refused. They told him that nothing would happen.
“They persuaded him to go in with them, which he initially did. However, he later left the building.”
She said another survivor of the tragedy, a student of Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Samuel, sustained injury on his arm when a section of the building first collapsed.
Efforts to ascertain the owner of the building and the contractor proved abortive, as residents claimed not to know their identities.
Efforts to contact the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mrs. Nkeiruka Nwode, failed, as all her mobile telephone lines were switched off.
