Construction eyed in collapse of Nigerian church; 160 dead

WARRI, Nigeria — Mortuaries overflowed with bodies Sunday from a church collapse in southern Nigeria that killed at least 160 people, and worshippers said construction of the building had been rushed.

Hundreds had been inside the Reigners Bible Church International in the city of Uyo on Saturday for the consecration of founder Akan Weeks as its bishop when the metal girders fell and the corrugated iron roof caved in.

Screaming survivors streamed out amid cries from the injured inside.

Officials feared the death toll could rise.

Mortuaries in Uyo were overwhelmed by the disaster, said Etete Peters, the medical director of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital.

Many of the dead were taken to private mortuaries scattered across the city, said youth leader Edikan Peters. Some people were taking the bodies of relatives to their homes because of the overcrowding.

Journalists said that church officials sought to prevent them from documenting the tragedy, trying to seize cameras and forcing some to leave the area.

The church had been still under construction and workers had been rushing to finish it in time for Saturday’s ceremony, congregants said. A spokesman for the governor of Akwa Ibom state said officials will investigate whether any building standards were compromised.

Buildings collapse often in Nigeria because of corruption, with contractors using substandard materials and bribing inspectors to ignore shoddy work or a lack of permits.

In 2014, 116 people died when a multistory guesthouse of the Synagogue Church of All Nations collapsed in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.

CHUKWUEMEKA NWANERI/AP The wreckage of the church in Uyo, Nigeria, where hundreds were at a service Saturday.