Four siblings have been reported dead in a building collapse in Agric Quarters in the Mgbemena axis of Coal Camp in Enugu State.
OsunDailyNG reports that the Chairman of the Enugu Capital Territory Development Agency (ECTDA), Uche Anya, who confirmed the incident to reporters, said the building collapsed on Friday night around 8 pm after a heavy downpour.
According to him, the collapsed structure was meant for animal husbandry but was converted to residential, noting that it was not healthy for human living.
While on a tour of the collapsed building on Saturday, Anya revealed that the structure had 44 rooms with about 200 residents.
He said, “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 beings. 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 been 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 then gave immediate quit notice to residents of the building and four other buildings close to the scene of the incident, while pledging that the agency under his watch would work hard to ensure compliance of stands by landlords.