Many trapped, injured as 2-storey building collapses in Calabar

 Several persons have been trapped and many others critically injured in a 2-storey building which collapsed in Calabar Saturday afternoon.

Those rescued, have been evacuated to medical facilities in Calabar.

State government has pointed fingers at substandard building materials and negligence by the builders as factors responsible for the collapse of the building.

A statement issued by the state commissioner for Information and Orientation, Eric Anderson said the state governor, Professor Ben Ayade has “directed the immediate deployment of relevant Ministries and Agencies officials to coordinate rescue efforts as well as provide medical support to the injured and security in and around the vicinity of the collapse 2-storey building.

“Preliminary investigations into the incident indicate that the cause of the building collapse is not unconnected to negligence and use of sub-standard building materials which had earlier attracted the attention of the State Ministry of Urban Renewal to issue the Builder an advisory “Stop Work Notice”.

The commissioner indicated that the builders had ignored all expert cautions and notices regarding the defective building materials.

The government commended early intervention by a member-elect for Calabar Municipality, Stanley Nsemo for providing the excavator and emergency relief materials as well as collaborating with the Ministry of Health to ensure that ambulances were on ground to convey affected persons to the hospital.