No fewer than six persons escaped death by the whiskers following the collapse of an event centre in Ijero-Ekiti, headquarters of Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
It was gathered that the incident occurred around 4:15 pm on Saturday evening.
The building, with 250 occupants, had its roof and walls receded while being used as reception venue for a burial ceremony, leaving guests sustaining varying degree of injuries.
It was learnt the timely arrival of the men of the Fire Services at the scene of the incident averted recording casualty who rescue the victims from the crubbles and rushed them to hospital for treatment.
Apart from the wreckage, the building auditorium and surroundings were littered with spilled foods served for the guests, broken bottles, shoes, male caps, female wigs and headgears.
Relaying how the incident happened, an eyewitness said : “A reception exercise for a burial ceremony was ongoing when there was a deep crack on the wall. And suddenly, the roofing and Plaster of Paris(POP) caved in and fell on those who were seated inside the auditorium.
“This caused a stampede. Many were wounded in the process while some occupants sustained serious bodily injuries. I was here with the Chairman of the Local Government with Fire Service men to rescue the people out of the rubbles.
“Those who were seriously wounded were immediately taken to the hospital for treatments”.
Ekiti Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji expressed sympathy over the building collapse, describing it as unfortunate and saddening
Oyebanji, represented by his Deputy, Chief (Mrs) Monisade Afuye, who visited the collapsed building and Ijero General Hospital where some victims received treatments, on Sunday morning, grieved over the incident.
Oyebanji directed all the agencies of government to ensure that all the public buildings of that nature are supervised and certified at every stage to avoid unwarranted fatalities.
The Governor said the incident could have been averted, if proper building compliance with specifications were carried out by government agencies, warning that situation like that shouldn’t be allowed to reoccur in the state.
Oyebanji assured that his goverment will map out strategies to make Emergency Management Equipment available in all the local governments to respond to any alarming situation.
