TWO persons, including an expatriate working at the hospital project in Benin Central hospital, Edo State were rescued, yesterday, after a section of the building collapsed.

A section of the west wing of the new Accident and Emergency Ward being constructed by Edo State Government collapsed inside the 102-year old Central Hospital complex on Sapele Road, around 5pm, while workers were still at work.

The engineers at the site explained to newsmen that the accident was caused by arope cut on one of the cranes conveying concrete from the base of the four-storey building, smashing into the third, second and ground floors of the building.

One of the rescued victims was being conveyed to the hospital in a Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, vehicle. He was admitted at the intensive care unit of the hospital and is responding totreatment.

The site engineer, who was still trapped at press time, was communicating with the rescuers while frantic efforts were being made by other expatriates attached to the RCC and Setraco Construction companies to rescue him.

Chief of Staff to the state Government, Mr Osarodion Ogie; Majority Leader of the state House of Assembly, Mr Philip Shuaibu; Commissioner for Health, Cordelia Aiwuzia and the Secretary to the StateGovernment, Dr Simeon Imuekheme were all at the site monitoring the situation.

Shaibu said, “From what I gathered, a crane fell after it srope cut and crashed into the floors below. As you can see, rescue efforts are in progressing. We had sighted the other person and he will be brought out.”