His Excellency, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel was among those who escaped death at the Reigners Bible Church when the church building collapsed.
All seemed to be going well when suddenly it became clear that all was not well.
The building which was merely covered with tarpaulin suddenly gave a crackling sound that sent people scampering for safety, both military and otherwise.
Even the Pastor couldn’t help fleeing for safety, abandoning his flock.
Governor Udom Emmanuel was one of those who made it to safety but at least 18 people were not as fortunate as bars of heavy metal came crashing down on them.
He, thereafter, personally supervised rescue operations and evacuation of the injured to the hospital.
Some other senior government officials were reportedly among the victims.
Elombah.com gathered that the domed roof of the Reigners Bible Church collapsed during the bishopric ordination of Pastor Akan Weeks, the owner of the church.
From what is reported of the accident, the collapse of the roof of the church is said to have brought the death of congregants.
For the roof to collapse, observers suggested that there were serious defects in the structural design and/or construction of the roof and/or its support pillars.
It is suspected that the tragedy that chanced is, therefore, a direct result of the neglect and incompetence of the designers and site workers of the project.
The state government, has, in the meantime, set up a competent panel to investigate and ferret out the cause(s) responsible for the roof of the church to collapse.
This is with a view to forestall the re-occurrence of such incident and bring to book persons found to have compromised professional standards in the construction of the building.
The State Government has also pledged to undertake the medical treatment of the victims.
In the meantime, the government of Akwa Ibom State has appealed to citizens of the state to remain calm.
It also asked for prayers for the injured and to avoid undue speculation as the situation is being given the best possible attention.
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