Two weeks after a seven storey building under construction in New GRA, Port Harcourt collapsed, the Rivers State government has said its hope of rescuing survivors from the rubbles has not deemed. This is as the number of dead victims increased on Friday following the recovering of another body from the debris.
More than 40 people have been rescued alive so far. Another 15 were pulled out dead in the rescue effort involving officials of the River State government, Julius Berger, Lubriks Construction Company and Rotary International.
Commissioner for Information and Communication, Emma Okah, who made this known in Port Harcourt, said efforts are ongoing to identify the recovered corpses that have already started decomposing.
One of the rescue workers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said it took some days before they could pull out the recent decomposing body of one of the victims.
Last Wednesday, River State governor, Nyesom Wike, inaugurated a judicial commission of inquiry to investigate the collapsed building.
Speaking at the inaugural meeting at Government House, Port Harcourt, Wike charged the commission to identify the owner of the building and the holder of the certificate of occupancy.
The governor also charged the commission to ascertain whether the architectural, engineering and structural design of the said building was undertaken by competent and licensed experts in the relevant fields. As well as whether appropriate tests, including soil tests, were carried out to ascertain the suitability of the site for construction of a building of that height, among other responsibilities.
The chairman of the commission, Justice Adolphus Enebeli, in his response, assured the governor that the commission will execute her assignment with the needed timeliness and in line with the law.
