By; MKPUMA ENYINNA, Abakaliki
A 2-storey building belonging to the member of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Ukie Ezeali, representing Afikpo North East constituency on Tuesday evening, collapsed and trapped two labourers who were working in the site.
The owner of the building, Ukie Ezeali, is a former commissioner on project monitoring and evaluation.
The collapsed building is sharing boundary with the Alex Ekwueme Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki.
On a visit to the scene of the incident, it was gathered that two persons who where trapped inside the collapsed building, have been rescued and rushed to the emergency unit of the Alex Ekwueme Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki.
One of the victims of the incident, who is receiving treatment at AE-FETHA, Mr. Celestine Alua said, `I was inside the building when it collapsed, building construction started over three months ago. From my observation, they bought normal size of rod but I don’t know what actually caused the collapse. I am a labourer and we were doing our work when it collapsed and trapped us.”
Another labourer who escaped from the collapsed building, who wouldn’t want his name in print, said, “I was loading a bag of stones, and the owner of the house was here with me, telling me to pack it very well.
“Only two persons were trapped inside and have been rescued and taken to hospital.
“The building didn’t give any sign that it’s about to collapse. I was lucky, because my tools were inside. I just said let me wash my hands here before I will go inside the building to collect my tools,” he stated.
All efforts to reach the lawmaker, Ezeali for reaction, at the time of filing this report proved abortive, and he didn’t pick calls placed to his phone.
On his part, the Public Relations Officer of AE-FETHA, Comrade Uzodimma Nwoji, said, “the collapsed building behind AE-FETHA does not belong to the hospital as alleged, but is somebody’s private compound.
“The collapsed building didn’t affect us but only affected the boundary fence of the hospital. Two persons were rescued from the building and they are currently receiving treatment in our hospital.”
