JUST-IN: Soludo Fumes As Onitsha Market Building Collapse Kills 6

The governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, has vowed to jail all those involved in the construction of the building that collapsed in Ochanja Market, Onitsha, the state’s commercial hub on Monday night.

The men of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) have confirmed six persons dead, while about 20 others sustained various degrees of injuries at the site of the collapsed building.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the three-storey building, which was under construction, collapsed at about 8pm on Monday while some traders and construction workers were still in parts of the building.

It was gathered that when completed, the building would serve traders in the Ochanja Market.

A visibly angry Governor Soludo said he was not aware that such building was being constructed in the market when he visited the site of the collapsed building on Monday.

He vowed to investigate the incident to determine those responsible for the construction of the ill-fated building.

He said, “When investigations are completed, the developer, the chairman of the market and every other person involved in the disaster will be prosecuted and jailed.

“The remaining building under construction by the developers near the collapsed one will be demolished immediately after the rescue operations on the site has been completed,” Soludo said.

He handed down instruction that any plan to construct any building in any market in the state must first get his approval, otherwise such structure would be demolished.

He also instructed that integrity test should be conducted on all buildings in markets across the state to confirm their structural and engineering suitability, adding that any building that failed integrity qualification should be demolished.

The cause of the collapse of the building was yet to be determined as at the time of filing this report.