Two children are reportedly still trapped inside the three-storey building that collapsed at Aka Road in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, on Saturday evening.
As of the time of filing this report, sources confirmed that about three victims were rushed to the hospital for immediate medical care.
This is as some of those involved in the rescue operation blamed the incident on the use of suspected substandard building materials by the contractors.
An eyewitness account indicated that the two children trapped in the building were watching television while their mother and an elder brother went out to buy foodstuff.
However, reporters gathered from sources that the cheering news as the rescue work went on was that the kids were still alive as they continued answering calls put through to the phone left in the house.
One of the sources expressed dismay that despite the equipment brought by the state Ministry of Works, the Fire Service, and Julius Berger, not much has been achieved in the efforts to rescue those trapped in the rubble.
In a desperate move to save the situation, some youths of the community took it upon themselves to dismantle the building, using hammers and other handy equipment, shortly before an excavator was brought to the scene of the collapsed structure.
