SCANDAL: Mr. Dornubari Kiinee, Special Assistant (Media & Documentation) to the Rivers State Commissioner for works – Alabo George Kelly, has asked residents of the state to disregard news making the rounds and a viral video alleging the collapse of the 10th flyover been constructed by the governor of Rivers State.
Basic Facts
- News has broken out at the weekend that the Rumukwrushi flyover under construction at Tank junction Rumukurushi has collapsed. However, the commissioner has asked residents of the state to ignore the news.
- The media aid to the commissioner for works in Rivers has confirmed there was an accident at the site.
- He confirmed that there was a partial collapse of the Rumukwrushi flyover bridge, but work is still ongoing currently.
What we know
News broke at the weekend that the Rumukurushi/Elimgbu junction (tank junction) flyover collapsed. The flyover is the 10th of the 12 flyovers the Nyesom Wike government of Rivers State is constructing in a bid to rid the state of traffic congestion.
The flyover is billed to be completed by October this year. Nonetheless, an engineer to the construction giant Julius Berger assured the date will be met.
The contractor working at the site said one of the operators of the excavator mistakenly hit the heavy duty equipment on the hangers. He added that the pillars are still intact.
Clariform News desk will continue to monitor the situation at the site so as to inform our esteemed readers of development around the project.
Notable Quotes
“What happened yesterday was not an issue of structural failure but was entirely an accident caused by some careless heavy equipment operators .
“Routine construction works were going on the site when an excavator horizontally collided with an already launched beam while trying to assist a tipper that got stuck. The beam moved out of place and made impact on other beams. This caused damage to the beams on that row.
“The erroneous narrative being propagated by mischief-makers is with the sole aim of causing unnecessary panic amongst unsuspecting members of the public.
“The good people of Rivers State should disregard it in its entirety because there is no cause for alarm whatsoever. The structural integrity of the 10th flyover is not in dispute in anyway. What happened was an avoidable incident caused by two careless equipment operators.
“To the glory of God there was no casualty. The management of Julius Berger has been swiftly notified by the Honourable Commissioner for Works; the damaged beams will be removed and new ones will be relaunched. There is no need for panic as the situation is fully under control”.
