May 14, (THEWILL) – Three persons have died while two others sustained injuries, when the rooftop of an open market stall in Ekeaja market in Ebonyi State, caved in on Friday evening.
The incident happened at Ekeaja market square, Uburu in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
The incident was on Saturday, confirmed in a statement by Governor David Umahi.
The governor was quoted by the statement issued by his Media Aide, Nwaze Francis, as expressing shock at the incident.
“The Governor of Ebonyi State, David Nweze Umahi, has received with rude shock the disturbing and unfortunate news of the toppling of a part of the roof of one of the shades at the Ekeaja Market, Uburu, which resulted in the loss of about three lives, while two others were hospitalised”, the statement said.
Governor Umahi, who described the occurrence as catastrophic, sympathised with the families of the three persons who lost their lives.
The statement also noted that the governor has also reached out to others who sustained various degrees of injuries during the incident.
“We have received the news of the unfortunate incident of the toppling of a part of one of the shades at Ekeaja market and the death of three persons in the incident with rude shock.
“As mortals, we cannot question God, but we pray fervently for God Almighty to grant the victims rest in his bosom and comfort their families.”, Umahi said.
Governor Umahi while appealing to families of the deceased to uphold the outcome as the will of God, prayed for the quick recovery of those who sustained injuries during the collapse.
“We, however, pray that God Almighty grants the hospitalised survivors quick recovery and reintegration with their families.”
Governor Umahi, however, directed the Police and other relevant agencies to immediately launch a full-scale investigation to unearth the immediate and remote causes of the incident.
“I, therefore, implore our Security Agencies to work with the Engineers at the Ministry of Works and the contractor of the project to immediately mobilise for a thorough investigation into this unfortunate incident to discover the cause of the ugly occurrence, as a way of averting reoccurrences”, he added.
It was gathered that the victims ran into the shade to wait out a heavy downpour in the area.
The strong winds that accompanied the heavy rain was said to have blown away part of the building which fell on them.
One of the victims is said to be a fourteen-year-old girl who died on the spot, while others were rushed to the hospital where two others were later confirmed dead.
Sunday Ogbu is a professional journalist with eight - twelve years experience that had worked with various print and online media. Sunday specializes in news reporting with the aim of educating his readers on current social, political and economic occurences within his area of coverage. Sunday is a strong force to work with in the media industry and uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. Sunday is inspired daily by his wife and their four children. In his free time, Sunday likes sight-seeing, reading and discussing issues of societal interest.
