Two persons have been rescued while several others were trapped under the debris of a two-storey market building in Ekeoyibo market, Amawbia, Awka-South LGA, Anambra State.
The public relations officer of the police command, Tochukwu Ikenga, said the tragic incident occurred yesterday.
He said in a statement that the deputy commissioner in charge of operations in the state police command led a team of operatives on a rescue operation at the site of the collapsed market building structure.
The market is directly opposite the state criminal investigation department, SCID, Amawbia.
The market is being constructed under the state government‘s community‘s Choose Your Community project initiative.
An eyewitness said the building suddenly collapsed while many vegetable sellers and other petty traders were under it. Several of the traders were reported to have been trapped, as the eyewitness said only one person was rescued immediately after the incident occurred.
Though no official report has been made about the possible cause of the building‘s collapse, people in the market were complaining that they observed the builders mixing too much sand with the cement they used in the construction of the building.
Meanwhile, the state police command spokesperson said that, on the directives of the commissioner of police, CP Nnaghe Itam, the deputy commissioner of police in charge of operations, led operatives to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment. The area has been cordoned off, and rescue operations are still ongoing at the time of filing this report.
