8 Crushed To Death As Church Building Collapses In Onitsha

It was sadness and sorrow for families of about eight persons working in a building in Onitsha, a commercial city in Anambra State, as the property craved in and trapped the workers to death. It was gathered that the collapsed property, a school under construction and owned by an Anglican Church, killed some of those working in the building.

According to a report, the four-storey building, tucked inside St Christopher’s Anglican Church, by Old Cemetery Road, collapsed on Monday apparently due to poor construction and use of sub-standard materials.

The perished workers were reportedly trying to do some finishing works on the building, including plastering, when they were trapped under the building. It was further disclosed that some school children in compound had played inside the uncompleted property before it collapsed. The incident occurred shortly after the kids returned to their classrooms.

However, the church authorities claimed that only four workers were trapped in the building, but residents maintained that the church was lying about the human casualty figures.

The state governor, Willie Obiano, who was informed about the unfortunate incident, cut short his official function and directed that some major contractors working in various parts of the state to mobilize their equipment to the scene to see if any of the victims could be rescued alive.