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The Chairman, Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA) Uche Anya, has confirmed that four members of a family died in a collapsed building at Agric Quarters in the Mgbemena area of Coal Camp, Enugu South Local Government Area.
Anya who disclosed this to newsmen on Saturday after inspecting the scene of the collapse, noted that the bungalow building collapsed on Friday night around 8pm.The Chairman, Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA) Uche Anya speaking with newsmen.
He said the structure was approved for animal husbandry but was converted for residential. While lamenting that the collapsed building was not healthy for human residence, the ECTDA chairman revealed that the structure has 44 rooms.
“As soon as we got the intelligence, we rushed to the place. Four children died in the episode.
“It was danger waiting to happen. The construction was irresponsible. The place should never have been occupied by human being. In fact, go there and see.
“Apparently, they claim that they are doing animal husbandry and poultry there but it turned out that there are 44 rooms that human beings are occupying and there must have a population of over 200 people there.
“The fence line was totally unacceptable, nobody does that, and unfortunately, the people we lost in that tragedy are innocent children and it is very painful”, Anya added.
The ECTDA chairman said that the agency would continue to sensitive the public on the need to live a more conducive environment to avoid future occurrence of the unfortunate incident.
According to him, the compliance unit of the agency under his leadership would ensure that structures erected by landlords and contractors adhere strictly to the approval plan.
Meanwhile, some residents of the affected building said that the incident occurred at about 4pm when the fence yielded and collapsed on top of the building situated in a valley behind the poorly constructed fence.
One of them who survived the incident, Jennifer Okoye told newsmen that she survived because she was at work when the incident occurred but her room was badly hit by the collapse.
She gave the age bracket of the deceased siblings as between 8 to 15 years, disclosing that their petty trader mother was not at home when the incident took place.
“One of the boys is still in the hospital and their mother too who is yet to be informed that her children are dead. The name of their mother is Modester Okereke and their father had died. Even a remnant body part of one of the victims is still trapped in the rubble behind my room,” Okoye disclosed.
In the meantime, Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority, ECTDA, has sealed off the area.
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