A three-storey building, still under construction, collapsed in Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta on Thursday, killing three workers and a food vendor.
The tragedy occurred in the early hours of Thursday as the workers were preparing to resume the day’s work, police spokesperson Thelma Fiberesua said in Port Harcourt.
She said the workers had invited the itinerant food vendor, a middle-aged woman, to serve them breakfast of bread and boiled eggs. As she was serving the meals on the ground floor of the house, the structure collapsed, killing the occupants.
She added that an eyewitness, a labourer employed to serve the bricklayers, was busy mixing sand and cement a few metres away when he heard the loud bang of the collapsing building.
He raised the alarm but could not retrieve the workers from beneath the rubble.
Police recovered the four bodies of the workers from the debris after hours of work, Fiberesua said.
The owner of the building is helping police with their investigations, she added. — Sapa-DPA