A hospital director in Nigeria says at least 160 people have been killed after metal girders and the roof of a crowded church collapsed onto worshipers in southern Nigeria Saturday, with the toll likely to rise.
Mortuaries in the city of Uyo are overflowing from Saturday’s tragedy, medical director Etete Peters of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital tells The Associated Press.
The Reigners Bible Church International was still under construction and workers had been rushing to finish it in time for Saturday’s ceremony to ordain founder Akan Weeks as a bishop, congregants say.
In this image taken from video people stand at the scene after the roof of The Reigners Bible Church International collapsed onto worshipers killing dozens in Uyo, southern Nigeria, December 10, 2016. (Channels TV via AP)
Hundreds of people, including Akwa Ibom state Gov. Udom Emmanuel, were inside when metal girders crashed onto worshipers and the corrugated iron roof caved in, they say. Emmanuel and Weeks, who preached that God will make his followers rich, escaped unhurt.
Many uncounted victims are in private mortuaries scattered across Uyo, youth leader Edikan Peters says. He says some people are secretly taking the bodies of relatives to their homes because mortuaries are overcrowded and some do not have refrigeration.
A crane is being used to lift debris believed to be hiding the bodies of more victims, says Peters.
— AP
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