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Fatal building collapse in Abuja | Fatal building collapse in Abuja |
(about 13 hours later) | |
At least two people have been killed and ten injured when a four-storey shopping centre under construction collapsed in Nigeria's capital, Abuja. | |
Emergency workers are trying to rescue as many as 15 people believed to be buried beneath the rubble. | Emergency workers are trying to rescue as many as 15 people believed to be buried beneath the rubble. |
Rescuers were talking to a trapped labourer by mobile phone but he is no longer answering their calls, rescuers said on Wednesday. | |
The building site was due to become the capital's largest shopping centre. | The building site was due to become the capital's largest shopping centre. |
"We were talking to a labourer by his mobile phone, but we have lost contact with him now, his phone rings and he doesn't answer," said Civil Defence Corps commander Ade Abolurin. | |
The workers who survived had thrown themselves from the top floor of the wooden scaffolding, he said. | |
One had suffered serious spinal injuries. | |
Falling debris | Falling debris |
Eyewitness Mustapha Murtala told the BBC that there were about 20 labourers working on the building as it collapsed. | Eyewitness Mustapha Murtala told the BBC that there were about 20 labourers working on the building as it collapsed. |
There were others hawking food and water in the building at the time. | |
Reuters news agency quoted police as saying the number was between 40 and 50. | Reuters news agency quoted police as saying the number was between 40 and 50. |
"There was a woman selling water in the building, she started screaming and the building collapsed," Mr Murtala said. | "There was a woman selling water in the building, she started screaming and the building collapsed," Mr Murtala said. |
He said she was killed by falling debris. | He said she was killed by falling debris. |
The BBC's Andrew Walker in Abuja says building collapses have been common in Nigeria. | The BBC's Andrew Walker in Abuja says building collapses have been common in Nigeria. |
Two years ago the government promised to improve building regulations after hundreds were killed when a high-rise building collapsed in Nigeria's main city of Lagos. | Two years ago the government promised to improve building regulations after hundreds were killed when a high-rise building collapsed in Nigeria's main city of Lagos. |