Five dead in collapsed building in Port Harcourt 

Anxious relatives have continued to lay siege at the scene of a seven-storey building on Woji Road, New GRA in Port Harcourt, which collapsed on Friday evening.

About 34 persons have been rescued alive and five confirmed dead, as emergency services and construction personnel are still working through the rubbles in search of survivors.

The Rivers State Government has initiated a comprehensive investigation into the cause of the collapse. It also vowed that anyone found culpable would face the full weight of the law.

Commissioner of information and communications, Emma Okah, declared that government, which had mobilised equipment, state Fire Service, Civil Defence, Police, Ministry of Works and construction giants to participate in the massive rescue operation, would ensure that all persons trapped in the rubbles are rescued.

The Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Suleiman Yakubu, said effort had been intensified to remove concrete and metal debris to reach those still trapped.

Lawmaker representing Port Harcourt Constituency 1 in Rivers State House of Assembly, Victoria Nyeche, said: “If such a high-rise building could be going on in the heart of the city without being stopped, it just tells you that somebody approved that kind of substandard building. It is a failure on the part of the Ministry of Urban Development.” She advocated need to ensure that buildings are carried out according to specifications, and that qualified engineers supervise such buildings.