4 bodies recovered, 5 rescued from Lagos collapsed building

At least four persons have so far been confirmed dead while five others rescued from under the debris of a collapsed two-storey in Lagos.

The ill-fated house, located on Alayaki Lane, off Freeman Street, Lagos Island, collapsed around 2pm on Saturday.

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The identities of the deceased were not given as their bodies were immediately moved to the Lagos Island Hospital.

After the building collapsed, residents defied a torrential rain to help the victims before rescuers from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Lagos Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and fire officials arrived the scene.

Spokesman of NEMA in the South West, Ibrahim Farinloye, said construction work was ongoing when the house collapsed.

Farinloye said the building was located within a compound and that it was a frame structure as at the time of the unfortunate incident, noting that Alayaki Lane contained clusters of buildings which made rescue operation difficult.

The General Manager of LASEMA, Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintilu, said the building was in violation of building safety protocols.

It was learnt that the building was bequeathed to a family by the original owner which in turn awarded the reconstruction to a developer who decided to convert the bungalow into a three-storey.