Three persons have reportedly been killed in a building collapse that occurred at a section of the Ochanja Market in Onitsha, Anambra State.
The two-storey building was said to have caved in at 5:45pm on Saturday as a result of the further erection of some structures on the already existing weak building.
A market leader, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent, disclosed that it was a sad development as goods and property were also destroyed.
The source, who did not identify his name, said the unidentified victims were working at the site when the incident occurred.
He said, “Some builders were erecting some structures on an existing building without taking cognisance of the fact that the structure on the ground was already weak.”
Some traders at the market had protested the attempt by market authorities to erect additional structures on the existing old and weak buildings in the area on Friday.
The traders during the protest on Friday in Onitsha and Awka, called for the immediate suspension and arrest of those behind the act.
The marketers had also accused the leadership of the market of collaborating with some state government agents to construct shops on top of the weak buildings.
Efforts to speak with some other traders proved abortive as the incident forced them to scamper to safety as people were seen trying to salvage their goods so as to escape being trapped.
Efforts to speak with the police spokesman, Tochukwu Ikenga, also proved abortive as he did not take his calls nor reply to text messages to his phone as of the time of filing this report
