300 Died In Akwa Ibom Church Building Collapse according to Punch newspaper report, a student of the University of Uyo, Department of Communication Arts, Uduak Effiong, who said she lost three of her course mates to the sad incident that occured at Reigners’ Bible Church Int’l Inc, along Uyo Village Road, Uyo, the state capital.
She stated that when the building collapsed, a pillar fell upon a woman and tore her body.
She said, “I saw over 100 dead bodies. These were the ones close to me. From my estimation, more than 300 people might have died as people came from other churches in all parts of the state, including government-sponsored praised singers with uniforms to attend the programme. For some of us that escaped, we only did by the special grace of God.”
The Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, also narrowly escaped death by a whisker as the church building collapsed during service.
One of the aides of the governor, who rescued him, was said to have died at a nearby hospital where he was rushed to.
According security officer, many dignitaries who accompanied the governor to the church also died.
Many other state officials who accompanied the governor to the church also sustained serious injury.
Our correspondence also gathered that construction works on a section where the ordination held were rushed because of Saturday’s event. The church has an estimated 10,000 capacity. Two cranes belonging to construction giant, Julius Berger, were used to clear the debris.
A near fracas was averted between the police and some residents as the latter tried to calm frayed nerves.