A three-storey building with a penthouse still under construction has collapsed in Egbu Umuenem, the Otolo Nnewi community, in the Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Reporters gathered that the building collapsed around 1am on Sunday while the workers were getting ready to start plastering work on the structure.

Three persons, a father and two of his children, who were said to be among those working on the building, were instantly killed in the incident, while others sustained varying degrees of injuries.

Eyewitnesses said some other people who were also trapped in the rubbles were later rescued and rushed to a hospital in Nnewi.

“The building came down around 1am this morning (Sunday). Three people, a man and his two sons, who were also supposed to be part of those to work on the site died in the incident. They came from the Nimo community and were sleeping over to begin their work early in the morning before the incident happened,” an eyewitness said.

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Some officials of the Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, Anambra State chapter, led by the Chairman, Victor Meju and the Transition Committee Chairman of Nnewi North LGA, Chris Obiora, had visited the scene of the incident.

Addressing journalists after the corpses were brought out from the debris, Meju said, “Poor foundation, concrete mixture, quality of materials and wearing cost capacity as well as non-conformity to standards, non-approval from relevant regulatory authorities led to the avoidable tragedy.”

He announced the sealing-off of the site, adding that the owner of the building, Mr Chukwunafu Anamanjo, would be invited for questioning.

Obiora, while also reacting, called on the people to always make use of certified engineers and other relevant personnel in the building sector for their construction works.

The Sectoral Head of COREN in charge of Nnewi and environs, Arinze Okwuosa, said his team observed a lot of foul plays in the course of carrying out their job, calling for government intervention to forestall future occurrences.

Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, had yet to respond to enquiries when contacted on the development as of the time of filing this report.