Abuja collapsed fence kills two construction workers

Two construction workers were on Wednesday killed when a perimeter fence around a construction site in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, collapsed.

The incident occurred on Ademola Adetokunbo Crescent, in the Wuse 2 area of the nation’s capital.

Eyewitnesses told PUNCH Metro that the fence collapsed on the construction workers who were excavating the site.

The Head of Operations of the FCT Federal Fire Service, Amiola Adebayo, who spoke to journalists at the site, said six construction workers were trapped under the fallen fence.

Adebayo said while two of them were confirmed dead, the remaining four workers were rescued alive and rushed to the hospital where they are currently receiving medical attention.

He added that the construction workers failed to erect an embankment wall between the collapsed fence and the site of the ongoing construction while carrying out the excavation, causing the fence to fall on the workers.

He said, “Here we have officials NEMA, Red Cross, Federal Fire Service, FCT Fire Service, Civil Defence and all stakeholders, and by the grace of God, out of the six people that were trapped, four have been rescued alive, two were fatally injured.

“Those rescued were all taken to the Asokoro General Hospital for medical attention.

“The building was under construction, and the adjacent fence to the main building under construction collapsed on the men that were working on the site.

“No embankment or retaining wall was introduced while they were excavating the site where the building will be situated, so the adjacent wall fell on top of the people that were working on the site.”

In Rivers State, a yet-to-be-identified man hired to pull down a partly damaged building along the NTA Road in Port Harcourt, the state capital was killed when the structure caved in on Wednesday.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the victim was one of those engaged by the property owner to completely demolish the structure when tragedy struck.

An eyewitness said while the men, numbering four, were demolishing the building using sledge hammers, the structure caved in and a big stone hit the victim, who reportedly died on the spot.

The source said, “The three other men were injured. The structure was one of the buildings partially destroyed by a construction firm working on a project.

“This is one of the buildings they demolished partially at the beginning of the Location Flyover. So, the owner brought four men to use hammers to demolish it.”

When contacted, the spokesperson for the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said she was yet to get the report of the incident.

She however promised to find out and get back to our correspondent but had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.