80-year-Old woman dies in Lagos collapsed building

An unidentified 80 years old woman has died as the staircase of a storey building caved-in in the Oyingbo area of Lagos.

The Lagos State Building Control Agency said non-compliance with the vacation notice on the part of occupants of the building was part of what led to the sad incident.

It was gathered that the building was an old building, adding that occupants had been told to and vacate it for repairs.

“It was really bound to happen. The building is old. The occupants needed to vacate the building to allow renovation. Maybe, this may not have happened,” the source said.

The Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Emergency Management Authority, Dr Femi Oke-Osanyitolu, confirmed the casualty.

According to Oke-Osanyitolu, as soon as the agency received distress call, the rescue team arrived at the place around 8.42am.

“The agency responded to distress calls concerning the above and upon arrival, discovered a storey building in a state of partial collapse.

“Further information gathered at the incident scene revealed that an internal suspended beam in a room collapsed at about 7:45 am due to ageing and lack of maintenance of the structure.

“Unfortunately, an old woman died from the impact of the partial collapse,” LASEMA said in a statement.

Another agency of the state, Lagos State Building Control Agency, LASBCA, noted that its officials had visited the said building about four months ago, and asked the occupants to vacate the place.

“Our men were there. During our inspection of the building, there were signs of distress, it was captured in our compendium and we sealed the place. That was about four months ago, and we asked them to vacate the place.”