By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA—Six labourers yesterday in Abuja escaped death by the whiskers at a section of the hotel they were working on suddenly collapsed at about 1am.

The edifice, which residents and security operatives said is owned by an unnamed former governor of Osun State, is located on Plot 444, Citec Villas in Gwarinpa, a major town in Abuja Municipal Area Council AMAC.

As at the time of filing this report, six persons had already been pulled out of the rubble, while two were still trapped. Personnel of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA), as well as the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCD, and the Federal Fire Service were immediately on hand to undertake rescue operations.

Operatives were also seen using sniffer dogs and infra-red detectors to ascertain whether there could be more people in the rubble.

Vanguard gathered that the site engineer was out of the country at the time the incident occurred.

Residents of the area blamed the collapse on the use of substandard materials as well as mixing too much sand with little quantities of cement.

It was gathered that except for the prompt intervention of security operatives, the labourers may have died.

“The NEMA and civil defence people got here around  3am. If not for them, some of these people may have died”, said Ismail Taofeek who said he lives in the neighbourhood.

When Vanguard visited the scene, bulldozers from the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCDA, were seen pulling down some sections of the building and its perimeter fence.