Conflicting reports on the number of casualties in Akwa Ibom Church building collapse

There are conflicting reports as to the the number of casualties in last Saturday's incident where the building of Reigners Bible Church in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state, collapsed during a church programe, killing scores of worshipers.

While some of the worshipers who survived the incident say they saw as much as 300 dead bodies, the Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Akwa Ibom State Branch, Dr. Aniekeme Uwah, in a statement released yesterday, said only 21 persons were brought in dead to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) while 2 others died in the hospital.

Meanwhile the police in a statement released yesterday, said only 27 people died in the incident.

The state governor, Udom Emmanuel, who was inside the Church building when it collapsed, has declared a two-day mourning period throughout the state over the incident. He has also ordered an investigation into the remote causes of the collapse of the building will be investigated.