Chairman, Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA), Uche Anya, has confirmed the death of four members of a family in a building collapse at the Agric Quarters in Mgbemena area of Coal Camp, Ogbete, Enugu South Local Government Area.
Anya told newsmen on Saturday after inspecting the site of the collapse that the bungalow building collapsed on Friday around 8pm.
He said the structure was approved for animal husbandry but was converted to a residence.
While lamenting that the collapsed building was not healthy for human residence, the ECTDA chairman revealed that the structure has 44 rooms.
“As soon as we got the intelligence, we rushed to the place. Four children died in the episode.
“It was danger waiting to happen. The construction was irresponsible. The place should never have been occupied by human beings. In fact, go there and see.
“Apparently, they claim that they are doing animal husbandry and poultry there but it turned out that there are 44 rooms that human beings are occupying and there must have been a population of over 200 people there.
“The fence line was totally unacceptable, nobody does that, and unfortunately, the people we lost in that tragedy are innocent children and it is very painful”, Anya added.
The ECTDA chairman said that the agency would continue to sensitise the public on the need to live a more conducive environment to avoid future occurrence of the unfortunate incident.
According to him, the compliance unit of the agency under his leadership would ensure that structures erected by landlords and contractors adhere strictly to the approval plan.
