At least seven people were reportedly killed at a building that collapsed at Sabon-Lugbe in the Abuja Municipal Area Council of the FCT.
Our correspondent reports that the building was earlier demolished by the FCT Development Control Department and the remaining parts caved in when over 500 scavengers allegedly went there to remove irons and other materials from the demolished building.
The FCT Emergency Management Department (FEMD), which confirmed the casualty figure, however dismissed as untrue media reports that 40 persons were trapped in the rubble.
The Acting Director General of FEMD, Engr Abdulrahman Mohammed said seven persons, who were scavenging for iron rods and other building materials lost their lives in the process.
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He said ‘’What happened is that the structure was marked for removal by development control. So, these boys, taking advantage of the fact that there would be no demolition exercise at weekend, moved in to strip the iron rods in the pillar holding up the building leading to the unfortunate incident.’’
Engr Abdulrahman also stated that the Chairman, Miyetti Allah, FCT chapter, Mohammed Hussein confirmed to FEMD that five members of the association were removed dead from the rubble.
He said seven other persons were rescued alive from the rubble of the collapsed building.
He said FEMD had called off its search and rescue, after excavation of the incident site revealed that there were no more persons trapped in the rubble.
He appealed to scavengers to stay off the demolition sites to avert future occurrence.
He also called on the FCT residents to always use the 112-toll free emergency number in the event of a disaster.
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