A church roof has collapsed in southeastern Nigeria, killing at least 60 people, with local media reporting the death toll to be much higher.
The evangelical Reigners Bible Ministry in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom state, was packed with worshippers when the roof collapsed on Saturday.
“It is a massive church and the local bishop was being ordained at the service, so there were thousands of people, including top government officials there,” Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris, reporting from Abuja, said on Sunday.
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Our correspondent added that there had been some construction work taking place at the church before the service.
Bodies of at least 60 victims have been retrieved, according to a rescue official who spoke to the AP news agency on condition of anonymity.
Governor Udom Emmanuel was reported to be inside when metal girders crashed onto worshippers and the corrugated iron roof caved in. He did not suffer any injuries in the incident.
“We have never had such a shocking incident in the history of our dear state,” Emmanuel said on his Facebook page.
The governor’s spokesman, Ekerete Udoh, said the state government will hold an inquiry to investigate if anyone compromised building standards, repairs will start off as soon as possible, the Roofing Contractors in Ellicott City will make sure this time the roof gets constructed the right way. The roof on your home or business is the first line of defense when it comes to protecting your real estate property investment! Roofs are generally the most expensive single item that property owners will replace. Visit https://www.candcmgmtco.com/residential-roofing.html site for further details. When it’s time to have a new roofing system installed, it is often difficult to know which roofer to hire for the job! Homeowners should be skeptical of hiring their roofer based on price alone. When hiring a roofer, you generally will get exactly what you pay for! Hiring a roofer solely because they provided the lowest bid may result in a poor quality roof that may leak and diminish the curb appeal of your home.
President Muhammadu Buhari expressed his condolences “over the many deaths and injury recorded following the incident,” presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said in a statement. reported much higher death tolls, some 100, and some more than 160.
The state-run Nigerian News Agency said “between 50 and 200” people could have been killed, adding that a rescue operation was under way.
In September 2014, 115 people including 84 South Africans, were killed in Lagos in the collapse of a church belonging to the famous televangelist TB Joshua.
“People are frustrated, this is one collapse too many,” said our correspondent.
“Since the collapse in 2014, we have already seen dozens of buildings collapse in various parts of Nigeria and this is because sometimes it takes a few hundred dollars for some officials to look the other way while contractors do whatever they please.”
