One person was confirmed injured in a two-storey building, which collapsed on Saturday, at Muri Nta Eke, former Effiong Bassey off Ikot Eyo Street, in Calabar Municipal Local Council of Cross River State.
The Guardian learnt that the building belonged to a popular hotelier around the area.
It was reported in some dailies that lives were at risk, but residents, who spoke to The Guardian, yesterday said only one person, the security man was injured, and had since been treated and discharged
They also said a 14-year-old boy, who was working in the building escaped by whiskers when he went to get a bag of sand outside.
A resident who lives next to the collapsed building, Madam Elluh said: “ No life was lost, only the old security man was in the building when it collapsed and he was brought out of the building by youths before the excavator arrived. He was later taken to the hospital for treatment.
“What happened on Saturday was a shock to all of us because we have not seen such before. The person who owns the building is a lawyer, he was present when the whole thing happened. He was using boys in the community to harvest sand from the gutter to build the house.
“At about 5:00p.m., as the boys were working, the owner of the house was outside directing them on what to do, the next thing we heard was a heavy sound, we rushed out of the shop and saw that the building had collapsed completely.
“The boys were lucky no one was in the building. They were mixing sand outside, only a 70-year-old security man was trapped under the building, but he was rescued by youths who searched under the collapsed building and brought him out. He was immediately taken to the hospital. Angry youths beat up the owner of the house, it took the efforts of some elders in the community who pleaded that they should allow him to take the old security man to the hospital.”
Meanwhile, the state’s Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Eric Anderson, said the collapsed building was as a result of negligence and use of sub-standard building materials.
In a statement, he said the governor, Prof. Ben Ayade has directed the deployment of relevant ministries and agencies officials to coordinate rescue efforts.
