Three people rescued from collapsed soak away in Nyanya
Three people were rescued from a collapsed soak asoak-away the NPA Quarters in Nyanya Federal Housing Estate on Friday morning.
The victims, who were workers hired to demolish the old soak awasoak-away struck a new one, were trapped under the rubble when the pit caved in around 9 a.m.
According to eyewitnesses, the workers had been digging and removing pieces from the old soak asoak-away for about an hour when the soil around it suddenly collapsed.
“It was like an earthquake. We heard a loud noise and saw dustsawdustere. Then we realized that they soaked awasoak-away Len and buried the workers inside,” said Mr JohnMrafor, a resident of the estate.
He said that some of the residents quickly alerted the authorities and tried to rescue the workers using shovels and hoes.
“We could hear them shouting for help but we could not see them. We dug as fast as we could but it was not easy. The soil was very hard and heavy,” he said.
He added that the rescue operation was hampered by the lack of proper equipment and personnel.
“We did not have any machines or cranes to lift the debris. We also did not have enough manpower. There were only a few of us and some policemen who came later,” he said.
He said that it took about two hours before the first worker was pulled out alive, followed by the second one shortly after.
The third worker, however, was not so lucky. He was found dead under a large concrete slab that had crushed him.
The rescued workers were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, while the body of the deceased was taken to a mortuary.
The cause of the collapse is still under investigation, but some residents suspect that it was due to poor construction and maintenance of the soak awasoakawaysoak away was very old and weak. It had cracks and holes everywhere. It was not safe to work on it without proper reinforcement and support,” said Mrs GraMrskoro, another resident of the estate.
She said that the estate management had been negligent in addressing the issue of sanitation and drainage in the area.
“We have been complaining for a long time about the poor state of our soak away soak-away tanks. They are always overflowing and smelling. They pose a health hazard to us and our children,” she said.
She urged the authorities to take urgent action to improve the situation and prevent further disasters.
“We want them to build new and stronger soak soak-aways for us. We also want them to compensate the families of the workers who lost their lives or got injured in this incident,” she said.
