At least two people are feared dead and 18 trapped after a four-storey building collapsed around 1.30pm in the Jabi area of Abuja on Friday.
A witness said children and food hawkers were among those trapped in the building.
Six people were said to have been rescued, including the site engineer, whose leg was reportedly broken.
A worker who narrowly escaped the tragedy said over 50 people worked there.
“There is a sewage inside that piece of land and this contributed to the collapse,” the worker said.
It was gathered the building had been abandoned for over 15 years by the owner who recently mobilised workers to continue the construction of the structure.
“It sounded like a bomb”, said Chinedu Ike, a witness.
“The workers, including some women selling groundnut are trapped inside.”
Another said one of the workers trapped inside the rubble contacted him on phone, but “I could not hear him clearly.”
Officials of the Federal Capital Territory Development Authority (FCTDA), the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) and other emergency services were mobilised to the scene to rescue trapped victims.
The incident caused heavy gridlock with many residents and passers-by converging at the spot of the collapse.
Rain temporarily dispersed the crowd as tractors enter the scene to save the trapped people.
