Thoura residents and passers-by at the incident scene where several are feared dead

One person has been confirmed dead, three injured and several other trapped after a building under construction collapsed Thursday morning in the Hai Thoura area in Juba.

Eyewitnesses told Eye Radio that four people were rescued from the rubles and taken to Juba Teaching Hospital, but one died later.

According to them, before the incident, there were concerns from the locals about columns of the under-construction story building.

“I am at the scene of this incident, 30 minutes ago this building collapsed vertically,” Juma Philipo told Eye Radio.

“Several people who were on the ground are still there, till now no rescue team arrive yet at the scene. Those working here are nine people, two people have been taken to the hospital.”

Residents and passers-by were seen at the scene with some women heard wailing over the incident.

Another witness said rescuers were deployed to comb through rubles where nine construction workers are believed to be trapped.

“The Mayor came and two people have been taken to the hospital and one of them died,” said Leju Kikiji.

“They brought the caterpillar to help in removing those people who are down there, now we can hear the voice of someone down here.”

“There were two people who came here to drink tea because am very close to the building, the plot that is close to this building.”

For his side, the acting Mayor of Juba City Council Emmanuel Khamis who visited the scene called for an urgent meeting with the Engineering Council of South Sudan.

“At least three people who are injured have been taken to the hospital, and it’s believed that there are still people who are trapped in a collapsed building, this is very unfortunate,” said Mayor Khamis.

“We are going to ensure that the remaining structure is demolished and removed so that we removed people who are trapped down there.”

“I will have a meeting urgently with the engineering council and Ministry of Housing and physical infrastructure and all our engineers to make sure buildings are regulated.”