WARRI, Nigeria (AP) – The Nigerian church that collapsed last weekend and killed scores of worshippers had many structural faults, and authorities ordered construction to stop multiple times, the head of the country’s engineering regulatory body said Friday.
The engineers involved should surrender to authorities, Kashim Ali, president of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, told The Associated Press.
At least 160 people died in the collapse, though the state government puts the toll at 27 dead.
Reigners Bible Church International was under construction in the southern city of Uyo when it hosted hundreds of people for the consecration of founder Akan Weeks as a bishop on Dec. 10. Metal girders and the corrugated iron roof crashed onto worshippers as the structure collapsed.
Ali said a preliminary investigation into the disaster has revealed that the church’s construction, which began in 2013, was carried out without the required building permit, and that state authorities several times slapped “Stop Work” orders on the structure.