One dies, 3 injure, 900 escape as church building collapses

A church building under construction collapsed Tuesday in Asaba, Delta State, killing one, injuring three while over 900 worshippers, including children, escaped....


The premises, said to be the regional headquarters of a Pentecostal church located at Jarret Street in the city, houses a smaller building where members worship, pending completion of the main building.

The frontage of the church building and other parts of the church under construction were completely destroyed, trapping four workers under the rubble, who were later rescued.

Vanguard gathered that the victims were rushed to St. Rebecca Hospital, where one of them identified as Obiora Ikechukwu, who is about 20 years of age, died yesterday. A senior pastor of the church, who spoke to journalists, confirmed that about four persons who were working on the building, sustained injuries. On the possible cause of the collapse of the building, he said:

“I am new in this place. I was posted here a few weeks ago and met the building on ground. But from my observation, there are challenges which we are trying to handle.”

It was, however, gathered that the senior pastor and other top elders of the church were invited by the police for questioning over the collapsed building and were later released.