Tragedy has struck at the national sports Festival in Warri Delta State as a section of the stadium under construction at the Stephen Keshi International Stadium, Asaba, collapsed.
Three persons thought to be construction workers were killed in the incident as scores were injured and taken to the hospital.
Control TV getting first hand information reports that complains were high for persons to not occupy the portion of the stadium which was still under consideration and unsafe for occupation.
The two-storey under construction is in readiness for the 21st National Sports Festival (NSF) to be hosted at the stadium from Nov. 28, later in the year.
A team of journalists including ControlTV stringer who went to assess the level of damage were stoped from proceeding and instead sent away from the scene on the orders of the chairman, Delta State Sports Commission, Tonobok Okowa.
“Mr Okowa, who doubles as Co-Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the festival tagged Asaba 2022, ordered the seizing of the journalists working tools.
Carrying out the order, the security details stationed at the stadium construction site beat the journalists, heating them with sport gun and other objects.
It would be recalled that the collapsed building was recently inspected by the Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare, who gave a pass mark, saying that the facilities were 80% ready for use.
However, some structural engineers expressed concerns over the speed at which the construction was going, doubting the integrity of the buildings under construction.
(C) ControlTV 2022
