After almost 24 hours of rescue operation at the site of a collapsed building in Lagos Island, eight dead bodies were recovered while 15 occupants were rescued.
The four- storey building located at No. 3 Massey Street in Lagos Island, had collapsed on Tuesday at about 2:43 pm with many occupants trapped.
Emergency officials which comprises of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), state Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) Response Unit, Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS), Lagos State Fire Service, Civil Defence, among others are involved in the rescue operations which ended this afternoon.
It was learnt that the LASEMA officials led by its General Manager, Mr. Adesina Tiamiyu were at the site of the collapsed building until midnight of Tuesday while the operation continued today.
Fourteen were initially rescued alive while two bodies were recovered as at 10pm on Tuesday but the death toll rose on Wednesday as evacuation continued.
At the end of the recovery operations, a total of eight dead bodies were recovered at the scene while another victim, an 11-year old boy, was also rescued. It was gathered that the boy’s legs had to be amputated for him to be rescued.
Heavy duty equipment was deployed to scour through the rubbles during the evacuation exercise.
Preliminary investigations by emergency officials at the scene showed that the building collapsed as a result of its defective structure.
Besides, the building is said to be 40-year old, which was earlier built as a one-storey structure before additional storeys were added at “irregular interval”, according to a source.
Also, another source blamed the location of a telecommunication mast on the collapse.
An official who pleaded anonymity said, “Investigations also point to the siting of the mast which residents said were erected with heavy concrete while the mast itself is also heavy. A heavy generating set was also installed at the site of the building and residents say anytime the generator was put on, buildings around the area would be vibrating”.
Meanwhile, the Council for the Regulations of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) have commenced investigation to determine the cause of the collapse.
South West spokesman of NEMA, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye who also confirmed the casualty figure with Daily Trust suggested that integrity test should be conducted on similar buildings in the area as some of them appear weak.
The latest collapse happened just four days after two people- a mother and daughter- died in another collapse at Meiran area in Lagos.
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