Four people were injured on Friday night when part of a building believed to be more than 60 years old collapsed at No. 18 Club Road in the old Port Harcourt Township, Rivers State.
The incident happened at about 7 p.m., when a section of the second-floor parapet reportedly came loose and fell onto the ground floor, where people were drinking and socialising at a bar. The victims, including a woman who reportedly suffered injuries to her head and ear, were rushed to hospital.
No deaths were recorded. Occupants of the residential building reportedly fled their apartments afterwards, fearing the whole structure could collapse. The state police command has launched an investigation.
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An eyewitness who spoke in confidence said the collapse was sudden, with people relaxing at the ground-floor bar when the parapet pulled away. He said three or four people were hurt, especially a woman with injuries from her head to one ear.
The man, who said he is over 50 and has known the building since childhood, said it is over 60 years old and its structure is weakening, and he questioned whether it had ever been renovated.
The Press Secretary to the Rivers State Ministry of Urban Development and Physical Planning, Isabella Ibim, confirmed that the Commissioner visited the site on Saturday and ordered the occupants to vacate. She said he advised people against living in such old buildings because of the danger to life.
According to her, he was relieved that no lives were lost, found that only part of a beam had fallen, and suspected the building was over 50 years old. She added that the ministry has been running sensitisation campaigns and identifying old buildings in the state capital that need renovation.
