Edo hotelier killed, 20 others escape death in building collapse

A hotel under construction at the Idumoza Community, Uromi, Esan North East Local Government Area, has collapsed and killed the owner identified as Andrew Isesere.

PUNCH Metro gathered on Sunday that the building collapsed on Friday as over 20 workers at the site narrowly escaped death.

The remains of the deceased were pulled out of the rubble on Sunday morning.

A source who pleaded anonymity said the occurrence sent shock waves around the community, who mourned the loss of a would-be investor.

The source said, “This is a sad occurrence and it is painful that a young person had to die this way. The site workers were lucky as 20 of them narrowly escaped death.

“The uncompleted building collapsed on Friday and the body of the deceased was pulled out on Sunday. It is so sad, “the source added.

However, a neighbour, who gave his name as Andrew Inegbebor, said the deceased was cautioned about the quality of materials being used at the site.

He also said there was no engineer at the site to supervise the job as the deceased was always there to personally oversee the construction.

Inegbebor said, “The owner was told he was using low-quality materials. He used 12 mm instead of 16 mm rods for pillars. There was no base basket at the pillars.

Look at the result.

“The building collapsed because of substandard materials that were used. There was no engineer on site. The deceased supervised the house. The house later collapsed and killed the owner but the workers escaped.”

The Edo State police spokesman, Moses Yamu, said he had yet to get any briefing on the incident when our correspondent contacted him on Sunday evening.