Entebbe, Uganda | URN | Rescue teams have pulled 23 people from the rubble of a four-storey church building that collapsed in Bwerenga, Wakiso District, as investigations into the cause of the disaster point to possible illegal construction.
Up to 40 people are believed to have been at the site when the building, an extension of Brother Ronnie Makabai’s Holy City Church Ministries along Entebbe Road in Katabi Town Council, collapsed on Monday night. A police officer involved in the rescue operation said church management had provided a list indicating that 40 people were working at the construction site.
“We worked throughout the night, and by 2:00 am, the number of rescued people had increased from 11 to 23. But the church team we are working with told us that the list of people who had been working at the construction site was 40,” the officer said.
According to a report from Entebbe Police Station, all 23 rescued people sustained critical injuries. Nine were admitted to Kisubi Hospital, while the others were taken to Entebbe Grade B Hospital. Excavation was briefly halted at around 6:00 am to allow rescue teams to rest after working through the night. However, the possibility that more people could still be trapped beneath the debris remained a concern.
Meanwhile, the National Building Review Board (NBRB) has deployed investigators to establish the cause of the collapse and determine whether the construction complied with building regulations. NBRB spokesperson Herbert Ziwa said investigators were collecting samples of cement, steel and concrete for laboratory testing to establish their strength.
The team is also working with Katabi Town Council to establish whether the building had a valid construction permit and approved plans. Ziwa said investigators remained at the scene, gathering evidence to help establish the circumstances surrounding the collapse.
Katabi Town Council Mayor Frank Kajjura said preliminary checks indicated that the building had not been cleared by the council and that construction had been carried out illegally. Kajjura also said the site engineer and foreman had reportedly disappeared following the collapse.
“I called my town council engineer, Kenneth Bagonza, to find out whether he had cleared this construction, and he told me he had never been to this place and had never cleared these people. When I asked the town agent, he said he had visited the place but was blocked from accessing the premises, so we have no hand in this construction,” Kajjura said.
The church leadership had not stated the tragedy by press time. Police and the military remained deployed at the site as excavators continued clearing heavy concrete slabs in search of possible additional victims.
The post Twenty-three rescued from scene of Entebbe Church collapse appeared first on The Independent Uganda:.